A Moment in Time (Rucas Adult AU)
by yuniesan
Summary: Riley needs to get out of New York, after her parents advised her to go to her great grandmother's house in Texas she's on the first plane to the Lone Star State. Lucas is a single father trying to live up to his family's legacy but he knows he's overworking himself to please his mother. The moment the two of them meet they realize what they had been missing all along.
1. Chapter One

_**A/N: [Mostly for those who know my crazy writing schedule] My writing schedule is a bit crazy right now because I'm taking 2 graduate level courses this summer and it's a little... well it's intense. I can't do one chapter a day like normal but I'm aiming for 2-3 a week until the story is done. This story is going to be between 10-15 chapters, maybe less if I write super long chapters. This is an adult AU so there will be sexy times! Also this story has Joshaya, but no Smarkle (Sorry to my Smarkle shippers), but the next story [the superhero AU] has Smarkle but no Joshaya so it works out in the end. Everything I write for GMW is Rucas regardless.**_

* * *

 **Chapter One**

Everything was going according to plan, that is if the plan was to run away from home because life had become too complicated to actually stay there and work. For Riley this was her life all of a sudden, she needed to leave New York after her life took a turn for the boring. She couldn't understand it, her family was great her life had been great, but she didn't feel like she was ever going to be happy with everything. So she talked to her mother about what she was feeling and her mother suggested to go to her great-grandmother's house in Texas, and since her Uncle Josh lived down there with his wife Riley would have family nearby to talk to while she figured out what she wanted from her life.

The complicated part of her life, was the easiest to handle, her now ex-boyfriend, who had saw fit to cheat on her and then tried to use it against her. She remembered him saying that it was her fault, that she didn't do enough in their relationship. Except they lived in her apartment, on her paycheck, as he did nothing day after day but blamed her constantly for everything. She couldn't take it anymore and walked out, but he didn't move out and she didn't want to deal with any of it anymore. She put her place up for sale and asked her mother to pack everything up, as well as making sure that he was out of the place before Riley came back from Texas.

Now she was sitting in a convertible that she rented driving into a small Texas town that looked like something out of a card catalogue. She wondered if she could get any work done while she was there, if she could find her muse again after all of the bullshit she had endured over the last month. The center of town was about the size of grapefruit compared to living in New York, but somehow the smallness of it all made her feel peaceful. There was no way her ex would find her there unless someone read her work and knew who she was.

Following the directions her mother had given her she drove pass the center of town towards where there was long strips of land and no one around. She almost missed the turn onto her grandmother's house, an old farm that had seen better days. The grass was overgrown, the house sorely needed a paint job, and the barn looked like it was missing a wall on the side. She pulled up to the front of the house and saw someone she hadn't seen in years smiling back at her.

"Riley," her Uncle Josh said as he walked down the steps towards her. His dark hair was cut shorter than she remembered growing up, and he was dressed in a police uniform. He was the young sheriff in town, she remembered because he was so happy when he got the promotion at such a young age.

"Josh," she said rushing out of the car to meet him, hugging him close even though the summer heat was making itself known. "How's your life going? Any baby news?"

"No and don't bring it up with Maya, she's still convinced that the baby is going to pop out like the alien movies, even though she's only five months along."

Riley remembered that the two of them wanted to be surprised when it came to the baby's sex, and they refused to talk about it, but since it was their first child they were also afraid that everything that could go wrong would.

"No worries," she said smiling. "Is everything set up?"

"Mostly, I got the water, and electricity running, and most of the rooms were aired out, since we rent out the place during the winter months, but the a/c is busted," he said trying to smile and failing miserably.

"I'll pick one up, I can afford it anyway," she said hoping that she could do it before she died from the summer heat. "Do you work today?"

"Yeah, but Maya wanted you over for dinner later."

"Don't worry I'll be there, let me get settled in and I'll come over around five, just send me some directions so I don't get lost."

"That's physically impossible, this town is the size of a walnut compared to New York."

"And do you remember who you're talking to? I still get lost the minute I get off the subway."

Josh laughed before pulling out a piece of paper, "Yeah I remember." He handed her directions before walking off to his patrol car which had been parked around the side of the house and she had never even seen it. "Call me when you're on your way."

"Will do Josh, now get out of here before you're late for work."

"Riley I'm the Sheriff if I'm late for work it's not really frowned upon."

Josh left soon after leaving Riley to wander around the front yard of the house, seeing for the first time a place where her great grandmother had once lived. Josh had said that it was rented out over the years but all of the furniture was the same as it had been when Rosie McGee had once lived there. It was rustic, and different from what Riley was used to but it was perfect in its own way. The living room was just off the side of the entrance, with an open floor plan, the kitchen and dining area was towards the back, there was an office next to the staircase which only held a desk and pictures of the country.

"Maybe I should get central air installed," she said to herself as the heat slowly creeped its way through the place, but she settled on just getting an a/c unit for the bedroom for now, as well as the office so that she could work without sweating to death.

Riley drove into town looking around as she searched for an electronics store, or any store that would sell an air conditioner. When she reached the strip just off main street she saw the store and automatically put on her blinker to turn onto the parking lot. The light changed but before she could make the turn someone slammed into the back of her rental sending Riley into the wheel of the car.

"Shit," she said grabbing her head, feeling the start of the throbbing pain from the hit to the steering wheel. Riley looked back to see a little old lady driving the car behind her, getting out of the car she rushed towards the old lady who looked flustered.

"Are you alright dearie," the old woman said looking up at Riley with her hazel eyes.

"I'm fine, how are you?" Riley asked checking to see if the woman had injured herself.

"Yes, I'm stronger than you, I'll live forever."

"Okay," Riley laughed. "Let me get my insurance information and we can get the report filed as soon as possible."

As soon as she walked back towards the car to get the insurance papers, she heard the tell-tale sound of a car pulling away. When Riley looked back the innocent looking old lady who had rear ended her was driving away.

"Damn it," Riley said slamming the door to the car. Her first day in a new town and of course she gets into a car accident and the person responsible runs away.

The sound of a siren drew Riley's attention away from the direction the old lady had driven off, a cop was getting out of the car. His eyes looked at her as if he were sizing her up for a moment before he broke out a smile and walked over to her.

"Hi sugar," the officer said walking towards her with a million watt smile on his face.

"The name's Riley," she said trying to keep him from giving her another compliment. She wasn't in the mood for some small town cop to flirt with her when all she wanted to do was go after the little old lady who just hit her and ran off.

"Riley," he smiled. "Well hello, you must be Sheriff Matthews' niece."

"Yes, and I was just rear ended by a little old lady, who took off the moment I mentioned getting my insurance papers, so I don't have time to deal with your flirting right now."

The officer cleared his throat and made a serious face. "Sorry ma'am, my name is Officer Babineaux. I'll take your statement and relay it back to the office, so you can be on your way."

Riley sighed, she hadn't meant to be rude but she was tired and so much had happened that she just wanted a moment of peace, and instead lashed out at the first person who had come to help her.

"Sorry Officer, I didn't mean to be rude, it's just that it's my first day in town and I needed an air conditioner, and some sweet looking woman hit me with her car and ran off."

"It's alright, I sometimes can't turn the charm off, my girlfriend thinks I'm crazy because I flirt with everyone without thinking even though she's the only one I love."

"Maybe you should stop flirting," Riley said out loud without thinking about it, she knew her mouth was going to get her in trouble one day.

"You're talking like my best friend now," he said as he wrote down something on his pad. "Don't worry I'll find out what happened here and get back to you."

"Thank you officer."

"You can call me Zay, everyone else does," he said before walking back to his car and calling in the accident. "I'll stop by your house and drop off the police report so you have a copy for the insurance company."

The paper work was processed in less than ten minutes, before the officer had left the scene. Riley couldn't help but feel like everyone was watching her the entire time, she was an outsider in there. Even though Josh was related to her she couldn't help but get the feeling that she wasn't wanted in the small town. She went into the store as fast as she could and picked up two window a/c units and rushed off as soon as she could, forgetting to ask for help to get them into her car. Once outside she struggled to put the first one into the back seat when she lost her footing and fell backwards. All she felt was the strength of a man's hands grab a hold of her and the feeling of a solid chest at her back.

"Woah there," a deep voice said sending shivers up her spine. A moment later the unit in her hands had been picked up as she came face to face with green eyes, and sandy hair. "Let me help you out here."

"Uh," she stuttered for a moment before she could find her words. "Yeah that would be great thank you."

"Anything for a lady," he said making her smile. The gentleman put both boxes in her backseat before turning to face her giving her a smile she couldn't believe existed.

"I'm Riley," she said smiling at him, as her heart tried to pry itself out of her chest. "I'm staying at the old McGee farm."

"Ah you must be Josh's niece, although I thought when he mentioned his niece coming that you would be a lot younger."

"No, we're only two years apart, and it's a long story," she said smiling at him as though her face was stuck like that.

"Well if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask," he said before climbing into his car and driving away.

Riley waved as though it were the most normal thing in the world, until she realized that she hadn't asked him for his name. She sighed as she got into her car realizing that she had been so enamored by his eyes that she forgot to get his name.

"Well that was stupid," she said as she drove off.

Instead of going to the house she drove to Josh and Maya's place, between the accident and the air conditioners she had lost track of time. Maya was sitting out on the porch, her blonde hair flowing in the wind, while she rubbed her pregnant belly. Riley remembers the first time she met Maya, it felt like ages ago, best friends since childhood. Now her best friend was her Aunt and she was happily married and Riley couldn't fault her for it, not when she was glowing like the halo of blonde locks on her head.

"Maya," Riley screamed as she got out of the car. "My Peaches."

"Thank god Riley," Maya said wobbling down the stairs. "Someone normal."

"What you don't like small town life?"

Maya smiled at her before wrapping her arms around Riley. "I actually love it, and I can paint all I want, plus I teach art to the kiddies."

"Who would have thought that all Maya Hart needed in life was Josh Matthews and a small town to make herself happy. I wouldn't have, and I grew up with you, you were a wild thing."

"Well Josh made an honest woman out of me," she said smiling.

Riley had forgotten how much she missed her best friend, they hadn't seen each other in what felt like years, the last time being Christmas a few months before but it had been a short visit for Riley who ended up having to go overseas for work.

"God I missed you," Riley said as the two of them walked into the house hand in hand, like they had when they were kids. Almost skipping, until Maya told her to stop because the baby didn't like it.

* * *

Lucas Friar was the son of a big ranching family, although you wouldn't know it from the way he looked, or unless you were from his small Texas town. Those who did business with his family knew him as the face of Friar Ranching, after he took over the business when his father had passed away. Lucas had been twenty at the time, and in the nine years since he had died, Lucas had made the business a success. But for the first time in what felt like years since he had a woman on his mind.

The warm feeling of Riley Matthews in his arms had sent a feeling through his body that he hadn't had in years. He knew he didn't have the time for any kind of relationship but it was nice to think about the feel of a woman against his body for a while.

"Daddy," his daughter squealed from the door as she barreled her way to him. Her long blonde hair was as bright as the sun, his little sun, with big brown eyes, that he knew came from her mother. Lucas didn't want to think about his ex-wife, the woman had left him with a newborn child before running off.

"How's my baby girl," he said pulling his daughter into his arms. "Were you good for your grandmother?"

"She was a shining example of a Friar," his mother said from the door. "Weren't you Liliana?"

"Yes I was grandma," Lily said but Lucas was the only one to see her roll her eyes. He kept his daughter's sarcastic nature hidden from his mother, mainly because he didn't want her to lose it because of his family's principals. Being a Friar kid wasn't easy, that was something he knew first hand especially since he was still living that life.

"I'll pick her up tomorrow morning to take her to ballet, and then her piano lesson," his mother said before walking out of the room as if it were the final word.

"Thank you momma," he said absently even though he knew she wouldn't hear, but he wanted Liliana to have some curtesy towards her grandmother.

"Gamma is such a killjoy daddy," Liliana said after the sound of his mother's car was far away. He wouldn't fault the seven-year-old for saying what was on her mind but he also needed to make sure that she didn't say anything like that in front of his mother.

"Lil," he said his voice firm. "What have I said about saying things like that about your grandmother."

"That it's not her fault for being how she is, especially because of how grandpa Joe had died."

"That's my girl," he said smiling. "Now let's go and get some dinner."

They barbecued their dinner that night, since it was a warm day, sitting down in the yard afterwards to watch the stars while his little girl fell asleep in his arms. He couldn't understand his ex-wife, it bothered him for the seven years of his daughter's life, how the woman up and left filing for divorce soon afterwards. Liliana was the light of his life, but in the end he realized that the woman he had married hadn't been who he thought she was and even after trying to get in contact with her years later she swore that she would never come back to the life she had once had.

He carried Liliana to bed and kissed her good night before going back to the yard and cleaning up, only to sit there and think about Riley, he couldn't figure out why the woman had had such an effect on him after just a few minutes in his arms. But the softness of her skin and the feel of her hair was enough to drive any man mad.

"You know someone could rob you blind," the familiar voice of his best friend said from behind him. "Why did you leave the door unlocked?"

"Because regardless of what you believe, I feel safe in this silly little town," Lucas said standing up and turning to face Zay. "Plus I knew you would stop by considering Josh's niece came into town and you're the biggest gossip in the world."

"I am not," Zay said trying to act offended which only made Lucas punch his arm before walking back into the house.

"You are, but you already knew that," he reached into the fridge and pulled out a beer and handing it to Zay before grabbing one for himself and walking back to the yard and sitting in one of the chairs. "Say what you need to say so that I can move on with my life."

"Well," Zay said sitting down next to him. "She's one hundred percent perfect for you, and little old lady Jones rammed the back of her car and ran away so now I have to deal with a hit and run situation."

Lucas looked over at Zay stunned, he hadn't known that Riley had been in an accident, and all he did was help her with her air conditioner. "Wait, isn't Mrs. Jones not allowed to drive, her son is supposed to drive her around."

"Apparently nobody told her that, and the only reason I found out is because Mr. Lowell had a camera installed outside his store because he still swears that the pigeons are stealing from his store."

"Good thing for senile old men," Lucas sighed not knowing why it was exhausting to just think about living in this town. He loved it but he also hated it at times. "Have you followed up with our new resident?" He said truly curious about her even though he didn't want to show it.

"No I went over to her place and she wasn't there," he sighed before drinking his beer. "I have to go back tomorrow after I talk to Josh about it."

"I should go with you," Lucas tried to sound like he was just being neighborly but in reality he really wanted to know if she smelled like the strawberry fields that grew just north of town. "You know for the sake of meeting her."

Zay laughed at him as he finished the sentence, "Dude I already know you met her, this town is full of gossiping old ninnies so a few of them already told me about your run in at the hardware store."

Lucas sighed looking down at the empty bottle in his hand. "Seriously this town."

"You can say that all you want but you know you love this place or else you would have left years ago."

"I did leave but city life just isn't for me," he said remembering the few years he had at college, it had been a miracle that he finished because he had hated it so much that he took on an extra work load just to finish faster and get back home.

When Zay left Lucas finished cleaning up before heading off to bed, checking in on Liliana on his way to his room just to make sure she was sleeping. His daughter had been the only constant in his life and he loved her but he hadn't gone out on a date in years and he was starting to feel lonely from it. He wondered if that had been the reason for his reaction to the town's newest resident, but he remembered that he had danced with woman, and had tried getting together with a few of them but the dates never worked out and he had given up.

Maybe it was time for him to try dating again, but he wasn't sure if Riley Matthews was the person that he should go after when he tried to date again, but as much as he tried to push the thought aside he kept thinking about her throughout the night.

* * *

When Riley woke up she automatically regretted not installing the air conditioner in her bedroom, the sheets were sticking to her skin and her hair was weighed down in her sweat. She rolled over with a groan and slowly got up, she knew she needed a shower but it was so hot that her body felt like a dead weight.

"I hate this," she said to herself as she peeled off of the sheets and made her way towards the bathroom. Her first thought as she stepped into the cold shower was that she needed to install those air conditioners, and possibly find a way to do so without hurting herself. Her neck was stiff from the accident the day before, and the cold water wasn't helping but it helped with cooling her down. Even in New York she wasn't very fond of the heat mainly because she liked to dress in layers and make her outfits look cute but in the summer she would always have to figure out ways to keep herself dry and always failing.

When it came to work she had to wear suits, until she got high enough in order to work from home, now she was taking a break from her magazine job to work on her novels, as well as getting her life together after her break-up. She knew that life wasn't always easy, the break-up wasn't easy, and after a long conversation with Maya the night before, the blonde had convinced her that what she needed was a rebound guy while she was in town. Although Riley had protested to the idea, she remembered the blonde haired green eyed cowboy who had helped her the day before.

"Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea after all," she murmured thinking of his strong hands on her. She still regretted not getting his name even though she talked like she was an idiot the moment she saw him. She walked into the kitchen and started making coffee when she heard a car door slam outside of the house. Soon afterwards there was a knock on her door right before it opened. She could have sworn that she had locked the door the night before and grabbed the nearest thing she could use as a weapon before her Uncle's head popped in through the door.

"Damn it Josh," she said feeling her heart racing in her chest. "You scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry," he said walking inside. "I only stopped by the give you the spare keys, and to drop off these pastries that Maya baked this morning, because she had been craving them and when she craves something she tends to wake up and make tons of it only to not want it an hour later."

Riley felt her stomach cramp from hunger when she took the bag from his hand to see muffins and several different kinds of Danishes. "Geez, she must have really wanted something to eat."

"Well she passed out before I left so when she gets up later she'll have enough food to feed the army she believes is growing in her stomach."

"Well you love her," Riley smiled. "Just give her a foot rub later, because judging from the weight in this bag she's going to need it."

"I will," he said smiling as he grabbed some coffee for the both of them and sat down at the table. "I didn't say anything to Maya and judging from how she wasn't freaking out I guess you didn't tell her about the accident yesterday."

Riley groaned from the thought of the accident and the old woman who ran away from the scene of her crime. "Yeah I didn't think that your very pregnant wife should be burdened with how some old woman rear ended me yesterday."

"It's alright. One of my officers should be here later to follow up," he said standing up. "Just let him take some pictures of your car and tell him if you have any injuries that you were trying to hide yesterday," he finished giving her a very knowing look.

"Fine," she said rolling her eyes. "You win, my neck feels a little off, but it's not too bad."

"Go see a doctor."

"I will… um… do you know any that make house calls because I don't want to go out there today."

"The heat is getting to you already, New York summers are worse the minute the humidity hits."

"Yeah but I didn't get the chance to put the a/c's up yesterday, since I ended up at your house and didn't leave until it was close to midnight."

The two of them talked for a little while longer before Josh left to go to work, she waved him off and then walked down to her car to stare at the two units she had brought thinking of how she was going to bring them into the house and install them when she could barely get them into the car the day before. Instead of dwelling on it she walked back into the house and grabbed another cup of coffee before settling down on the porch steps and staring at her car.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and when she looked down she saw a message from her agent telling her that she needed the draft of the novel by the end of the month. Riley used a pen name when writing novels versus her real name which she used when she wrote for the magazine, no one knew that she wrote erotica and romance novels. It was her little secret and even when she went on press tours for the books she wore a disguise because she was used to hiding it. She had written two novels under her own name but they were heavier than she liked and she wrote them so far apart that people made her out to be a prolific writer when in fact she would rather write dirty books because they were more interesting.

The sound of a car coming towards her pulled her from her thoughts on her next novel, looking up to see the officer from the day before pulling into the driveway, behind him another car pulled in behind the police car.

"Hey sugar," the officer said and Riley tried hard to bite back a groan.

"You really shouldn't flirt with women if you're in a relationship," she said to him hoping that the guy would stop if she kept telling him to stop he would.

"Right," he said walking towards her. "I just wanted to tell you that we know who hit your car and we're going to pursue this if you want to. I also need a few pictures of your car and we should be done."

"As weird as it is to go after a little old lady, I don't want to deal with the insurance premiums that are going to happen from this."

He nodded at her and smiled. "Well I'll get started."

As the officer walked away she noticed that the other car was still in the drive, only to see a blonde head of hair walking around her car. He didn't look like an officer, but he looked familiar. She saw him talking to the officer for a moment before he turned around and she saw the face of the guy she had embarrassed herself in front of. Her only thought was how hot he was, and of course the fact that she wasn't dressed to impress.

When Lucas had woken up that morning he knew he was going to follow Zay to the house where Riley Matthews lived, he was intrigued by her and he wanted to get to know her better. He couldn't get the feel of her body against his out of her mind. He took his daughter to his mother's house after breakfast and drove off to follow Zay before he had to be at work around noon. His mornings are usually reserved for his daughter before she goes to school and making sure that the chores are done before he went off to work.

Since he was the boss he only worked from noon until five in the afternoon, his mother took care of Liliana in the afternoons and he worked on dinner before she got home. That had been his life for the last seven years, he hadn't thought it was so much he had always worked hard but sometimes he wished that there was someone there to share his life with. Liliana had begun asking about her mother and although he told her about the woman that had once been his wife, his daughter wants him to be happy. That's how he came to date her kindergarten teacher, and one of the mothers of her classmates. Neither relationship had gone too far, because he hadn't been attracted to either woman.

Now he didn't know what to think about Riley Matthews, who literally fell into his arms out of nowhere. He couldn't help but laugh at the face she was making at Zay who for some reason would flirt with a tree if he could. He watched as she rolled his eyes at all of his advances until her eyes landed on him as he had gotten out of the car.

"Hello Ms. Matthews," Lucas said as he walked towards her. "How are you feeling today?" He could tell when her face blushed and it only made her even more adorable in his eyes, but he also knew that he couldn't trust many people because he didn't want Liliana to get hurt but he couldn't help but flirt with this woman.

"I'm find, sweating to death but fine," she said smiling at him. "I didn't get your name yesterday and I'm embarrassed that I hadn't asked for it when we met."

"I'm Lucas, Lucas Friar, I live up the road right on the other side of the river behind your house," he said as he walked towards her to shake her hand. Once wrapped in his he couldn't help but rub his thumb over her skin.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said smiling. "If it wouldn't be a bother, while the kind officer is inspecting the car, can you help me bring the air conditioners into the house… um… I don't know if I can carry it all the way upstairs."

"It would be my pleasure to help you especially after your accident yesterday," he didn't understand why he was turning the charm on so high with her, he barely knew her but for some reason she brought it out in him.

He had helped her not only bring them in but also install them into the windows while talking to her about nonsensical things like the heat wave and the drought that was happening in the area. But neither talked about anything personal, he left when Zay had finished knowing that he wanted to come back, and at least get to know her better.


	2. Chapter Two

**Thanks to everyone reading the story so far, I'm happy you all like the story so far.**

 **Also Happy 3rd Anniversary to Girl Meets World**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

He was nice, but Riley didn't want to move to fast, her former self was rearing its ugly head and she wanted to take it slow. Her relationships usually started with her becoming friends with the guy first but Maya had continued to insist on her having a rebound.

"Riley," Maya said rolling her eyes. "Your last boyfriend an asshole, when you brought him to my wedding I wanted to strangle him but you were head over heels in love with him so I didn't say anything."

"But Maya, I can't have a rebound with someone you would know in the same town for the rest of your life… even though he's freaking hot," Riley said trying to get the image of Lucas' green eyes out of her head. She knew how hot the guy was, and she knew where he lived because he had pointed it out to her so she could walk over there and say hi.

"I can see your mind working, and stop," she said as she rubbed her belly. "Riley, I don't know Lucas very well he's very personal person I think Zay is the only person outside of his mother and probably anyone who has been here long before me which is pretty much the whole town. Anyway, take a chance for once and stop thinking, and over thinking. Don't be friends first."

Riley sighed, looking over at her very pregnant friend wondering what her life would have been like before her ex, but she chased the thought away as fast as it came because she didn't want to remember something bad.

"I'll do it, but you know me I'll mess this up at some point and say something stupid," Riley said remembering how she has the tendency to string along a relationship in hopes that it would go somewhere. "I'll just do what the women in my novels do and go for it while silently lusting for the man."

"I still can't believe you write those novels and that no one I know actually knows about this. I hate that you use a pen name," Maya said before pulling out Riley's latest book and chucking it at her. "Don't ever use me and Josh to write one of those please."

Riley cringed at the thought of using her Uncle as a subject in her work. "Oh god Maya that's gross."

"Yeah but we're a sexy couple and you know it," Maya said smiling at her causing Riley to jump off the chair she was sitting on and running away.

"I'm leaving, before this gets too weird, plus I have to finish drafting the book before I send it off to my agent."

"I'll stop by tomorrow," Maya said walking Riley to the door. "I need to get out of this house before I go crazy."

Riley drove off towards her now air conditioned house, but when she was finally sat in front of her computer she couldn't figure out what to write. Her agent had told her that her writing was becoming too predictable lately so she wanted Riley to trying and spice it up a little more but she couldn't figure out how. Every time she started a new paragraph she erased half because it reminded her of the last book she wrote.

"This isn't good," she said to herself trying to figure out why she was in a slump. Pulling up her messenger account on her computer she messaged the only other person who knew that she wrote these books, telling them to call her immediately.

The call came twenty minutes later, "Charlie you have to help me with this I can't figure out why I'm hitting a slump."

Charlie Gardner had been her high school boyfriend until the two of them realized that they were better off as friend and broke up. The break-up had actually made them closer, and Riley had set Charlie up with the woman he was now married to.

"What kind of slump," he said over the phone and she knew he was working on something himself because she could hear the taps of his keyboard over the phone. The two of them had promised that no one would ever know that he actually liked to read Riley's novels, or that he knew that she wrote them.

"I can't figure out what to do my agent told me to try and take my writing in a different direction but I normally write vanilla romance novels and even my erotica is vanilla," she said sighing as she stared at the blinking cursor in front of her. "I know this, and you know this."

"Well considering your last relationship, I'm thinking you were always writing what you wanted for yourself and instead of getting that you ended up with a jerk of a boyfriend who cheated on you and was an all-around asshole."

"You and Maya I freaking swear, neither one of you told me any of this when I was going out with Evan but now that we broke up you both are just telling me what you should have when I was with him. My friends are useless I swear."

"Riles, don't think about him, think about a rebound," Charlie said making her remember Maya's thoughts on a rebound guy. "Maybe that's what you need. Date someone hot and use the sex in your novel."

Riley sighed out loud before slamming her head down on the desk, "Maya said that I should just do it with some hot guy and get it over with. I should have made better friends in high school I swear, you two are like two peas in a pod."

"You can't blame us, our parents got married to each other sophomore year, Maya and I literally became brother and sister."

"Not just in name either, I swear that the two of you are twins with an evil plot to make me into an invalid with some crazy sex drive," Riley thought about what she was saying before remembering who she was talking to. "Oh geez I keep forgetting that you talk to her every time I talk to you. Please don't say anything to your sister."

"I won't, and we're both right you know, Evan was a jerk and even though we should have said something we didn't, but we're right about this. Maybe you need someone to just get you out of this rut your in."

"Your wife would probably kick your ass for telling me that," Riley said laughing, thinking about Sarah who was probably in the same room listening to their conversation. "Please tell me I'm not on speaker."

"You are," Sarah said from a distance laughing at Riley's comment. "He put you on speaker the moment you mentioned him and Maya's ability to react like twins."

Riley groaned into the phone wishing she hadn't said anything at all. "So what you agree with them?"

"Yes," Sarah said which only made it worse in Riley's head. "Riley we're all your friends but you need to have a one night stand or something, you're too good for your own sake and it back fires at times like this."

"Fine," Riley said giving up. "You all win, I'll try to get with a townie while I'm down here but afterwards there will be no more talk about my sex life at all."

"Deal," Charlie said while Sarah laughed in the background.

She talked with them for a few more minutes before a knock on the front door drew her attention away making her hang up. She was really hoping that it wasn't that police officer again because as much as she liked being nice to people she didn't know if she could handle the constant flirting. When she opened the door she was greeted with a familiar pair of green eyes and a wide smile. She knew that Charlie and Maya, and even Sarah were right, she need to get out of her slump not only in her writing but also in life so a fling with a cowboy should do it.

Lucas was surprised when he found himself on door to door duty for the town fair, his mother had signed him up for it weeks before and since he ignored her most of the time he hadn't realized that he was put on the roster for checking who was going to volunteer for projects. At first it was difficult to get through every door in town without trying to gag from having to be the perfect son, until he found himself in front of Riley's house with the prospect of seeing her again and trying to talk to the woman without talking about the weather. He had never been so nervous, not since the first time he asked a girl to a dance in high school, but for some reason he couldn't stop the stupid words that had come out of his mouth.

"Hi Riley," he said once she opened the door. He remembered how she had looked earlier that day with her hair in a messy bun and her eyes bright and shining.

"Lucas," she said surprised to see him. "Hi, um I wasn't expecting you. I was actually trying to get some work done but I hit a block and couldn't really do anything… oh god why am I talking about this. Just forget I said anything."

He watched as she became more and more flustered and he thought it was adorable, but remembered their earlier conversation and how she was only going to be in town for the summer. He had realized that it was alright with him that she was in town for such a short time because he wasn't looking for something permanent, and maybe a certain brunette would be perfect for a summer romance. Especially with Liliana starting camp, for the next month.

"I won't because I just learned a little more about you… um anyway, I'm here asking for volunteers for the fair we have at the end of the summer," he said smiling at her. "It's a big deal and we usually try to book as many volunteers as possible."

"Um, well I don't know if I would be of any help, I'm only a writer."

"Really, well if anything we could have a small book signing with you if you're well known. We raise money for the local schools through the fair so it would help us a great deal."

"Um… well sure, I'll give you my agent's number and she could set it up if you want. I always need the publicity especially since I took a break from my regular job."

Lucas hadn't realized that he was talking to her like it was normal until it happened and for some reason he didn't mind. "Sure, get me the information and I'll get the committee to set it up."

As she walked back into the house he realized that he didn't want their conversation to stop, he was drawn to her and talking with Riley felt natural almost as if they had done so all their lives. He's had conversations with her Uncle and his wife but they weren't close friends, but he wanted to know more about the person in front of him.

When she was walking back towards him he couldn't help but smile at her, "Do you want to get dinner sometime?" he blurted out without thinking.

She stopped in front of him shocked at his question before smiling at him and nodding. "I would love to, but can I cook dinner here instead, people have been looking at me weird ever since I came to town and I don't have the urge to deal with nosy neighbors."

"Especially if you're with me, they love getting into my business," he said realizing what would happen if they actually dated in public. He was the son of the town's biggest business, everyone talked and then his mother would be on him for dating someone who wasn't from their side of the world. "It's okay with me if we have dinner here. I just wanted to talk more about the fair and what role you'll have if you do the signing."

It couldn't be a date, not yet anyway, he didn't want his mother reacting especially since Liliana hadn't started camp yet. It was only a day camp but she would be out most of the day, with some overnight trips. If his mother started talking about him dating his daughter would automatically start asking questions and he didn't want to talk about the possibility of her asking if she was going to get a new mommy.

"Yeah sure," Riley said to him although he saw that her smile had faltered a bit. "My phone number is on the back of the card if you or any of the committee members wanted to ask me questions. I wrote my email as well if they just wanted to send any inquiries along."

He felt stupid all of a sudden but he took the card and left saying a quick goodbye before he said anything else that would bury him deeper into the hole he was already inside of.

* * *

Over the next week Riley worked on her book, she used the awkward encounter she had had with Lucas her second day in town as a starting point for the story. She told her agent about the possibility of doing the fair and her agent had loved the idea, mainly because it would draw more attention to her work in a smaller setting. Lucas hadn't called the whole week which just made her more nervous about Maya's plan, except it had somehow become Maya, Josh, Charlie and Sarah's plan. All of the people in her life were conspiring to get her laid and it made her a wreck.

She was killing time in while washing her car when a familiar car drove up her driveway, when she looked at the driver she saw a familiar set of green eyes smiling back at her. She could feel her heart skip in her chest, she thought that it was just a lust driven thing especially since everyone that knew about him kept telling her to just use him to get over Evan. But for some reason her heart tried to get in the way.

"God I'm in trouble," she murmured to herself the moment their eyes met. "Hi Lucas," she wanted to act all nonchalant but instead of walking towards him like a normal person, she tripped over the bucket of water on the floor landing on the water hose and spraying it on herself.

"Riley are you alright?" he said rushing towards her.

As she got up she noticed that she was soaked all the way through, she also noticed that Lucas had stopped when her shirt had stuck itself onto her breast. She had at least thought to put on a bathing suit when she had decided to wash her car, as she looked for relief from the summer heat.

"I'm fine," she said wringing out the water from her shirt.

He walked closer to her making her very aware of his presence. "No you're not," he said as he knelt down to the ground looking at a cut she hadn't noticed on her leg. "I can take you to the hospital, you might need stitches for this."

"Great," she said trying to sound grateful but really hating the fact that she kept getting into accidents. She hadn't been this clumsy since middle school.

"I'm guessing that you don't really like going to hospitals," he said standing to meet her eyes. He was a full head taller than she was so she had to look up to meet his eyes, realizing that it wasn't the thought of going to the hospital but the fact that each time she's met Lucas she's been a total mess.

"It's not that, it's just that ever since I got here… well I keep getting into accidents, and I haven't been this clumsy since I was in middle school."

"It's alright," he said helping her towards his car, stopping when he realized that she was still wearing her wet clothes. "Um… do you want to change?"

Riley noticed how flustered he was getting from the sight of her wet clothes. "No it's okay," she said trying not to smile. She hadn't planned this, but maybe it might work especially since Maya and everyone else wanted her to seduce the cowboy.

"Yeah, sure," he said walking around to the other side of the car.

As Lucas drove the car to the hospital, he was very aware with how close Riley was and how clingy her shirt was to her body. He tried to keep the conversation light but kept stumbling his words so instead he stayed quiet trying to keep his hands on the wheel and his thoughts to anything but Riley in a wet t-shirt. It wasn't working because the car was all of a sudden filled with her scent and his mind was filled with all kinds of thoughts. Zay had told him that he needed to talk to Riley and get to know her, but now his mind was filled with other thoughts that went straight to his pants and didn't care if the world could see.

Once at the hospital Lucas stayed behind and waited until Riley was done, it had taken longer than usual to stitch her up because the doctor had found out that Riley had been in an accident the week before and had never gone to the doctor so he wanted to check to see if there was any permanent damage.

"Well here I am as good as new," she said limping over to him. "I have to come back next week to get the stitches removed but other than that everything is fine."

Lucas nodded as he watched her walk, "Yup," was all he said before putting his hand around her waist to help her to the car so that she wouldn't have to limp so much. In reality he just wanted another excuse to have her in his arms. He had started craving the feel of her next to him after their first encounter and had fought against it after the second meeting because he didn't know if it was a good idea until his secretary gave him the message from the fair committee asking him to talk to Riley about the signing. He had spent the whole week thinking about her, using his daughter as an excuse to stay away since he found out that she was only there for the summer.

He missed the sound of her voice and the smell of strawberries that came off of her skin, the brightness of her eyes when she smiled. He kept shaking his head the whole time because he couldn't believe that a woman had gotten to him so quickly after just knowing her for two days. It was then that he realized that maybe he should have started dating more seriously before he met Riley because his libido was being effected just from the sight of her. Instead he took the opportunity as a sign that he needed a fling for the summer just to get it out of his system and that maybe he should talk to her again about dinner.

When he settled her into the car he decided to take the plunge before he lost his nerve but she spoke up before he could say anything.

"So do you have any plans for tonight?" she said smiling sweetly at him and it took everything in his power not to jump on her at that moment.

"Not really, I was actually going to ask you if you wanted to go to Larry's tonight, it's a bar in town and they have good burgers," he said thinking that he needed to have a meeting with her in a public setting so that people, mainly Zay, would stop hounding him about asking Riley out. "I needed to talk to you about the fair."

"Oh, um sure," she said as if she was expecting something else. He wasn't sure what she was thinking but he hoped that he could convince her by the end of the night that it could be something more than planning something together. He just needed to have a plan.

* * *

After Lucas had dropped her off Riley went off on a writing tangent, she wasn't sure if it was because of the wet t-shirt of the way Lucas looked at her. She just used it to spur the story she was writing forward and ignore the fact that he had asked her out because of a business meeting. That part just made her angry instead, she wanted to have a moment where he would actually say that he liked her or something. The more frustrated she got the more she wrote because she didn't know what to think about the fact that the hottest guy she's ever seen hasn't made a move.

She pulled out her phone and called Maya just because she couldn't keep taking it out on her book or else her agent, and her editor were going to realize something was happening.

"Riley, seriously I'm pretty sure he's into you, I mean I don't know Lucas very well, and what I do know I found out from Zay whenever him and Josh are together talking about a case or something," Maya said from the other line. "He seems like a nice guy, you know the kind that hold open doors and take things slow."

"That's not really helping me here Maya," Riley said pouting. "I don't know why I let you talk me into these things."

"Because your last boyfriend cheated on you, and you need to get laid by a real man for once."

"MAYA," she yelled into the phone hoping that no one heard her best friend say something like that. "Seriously."

"Well it's the truth," Maya said before talking to someone else. "Anyway, I also think that you've been such a goodie goodie all of your life that you forgot that women have casual relationships every once and a while. Maybe that's what you need, you know, meaningless sex with someone you may never see again."

"Is that what I really want though?" Riley said wondering if she had it in her. She had always been the good girl and look where it got her, she had a job she loved, she got to write, but her real life romances were sub-par at best.

"You'll never know if you don't try," Maya said to her and Riley knew that Maya was just trying to get Riley to come out of her shell a little more. "Grab that tight yellow dress you have the one that shows off your boobs really well and wear it. Larry's is a very casual place so that dress will be fine especially if you wear it with those cute flat sandals you have but never wear because they cost a fortune."

"How do you know I have any of that?"

"Because you love that dress and would use any excuse you have to wear it, and you never go anywhere without those shoes because you're afraid of your mother finding them and wearing them."

"Oh," was all she said, realizing how well Maya knew her. "Fine," she caved. The dress would hide the bandage and the flats would make it easier to walk around instead of wearing heels.

"Good now go curl your hair and wear some eyeliner, because the heat will melt off anything else, and go get that guy."

"Fine… geez you win, I'll go seduce a cowboy for the sake of getting over my last relationship, and my writer's block, and the sake of having fun for once."

"That's my girl," Maya said before hanging up leaving Riley to over think everything about what she was doing.

 _Is this really okay_ , she wondered to herself. She wasn't the kind of person to do these kinds of things, and she would feel extremely guilty if her emotions got the better of her at any point. She had a conscience, it's worked most of the time, well except with Evan but she didn't want to think about what happened there. She needed to get over that part of her life, she hadn't told her mother, or Maya, or anyone the whole story but she needed to get over it all and start living her life again because in the end she couldn't let him have any kind of hold on her.


	3. Chapter Three

A/N: The first half of the chapter is more about their background... kinda... the second half is well... lets just say I don't know what I was thinking while I was writing it.

Also **Cheerra12** no Charlie isn't related to Shawn, since this was an AU I kinda made it that Maya's mom married a Gardner, so Shawn isn't Maya's step-father in this story, but they're all friends. I'll probably find a way to address that in the story, maybe not... I don't know just yet

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

Riley was a nervous wreck, the dress was tight and when she put it on it felt like it was a second skin. She wasn't even sure how she had managed to get it on because it was a slip on dress so there was no zipper. It was the reason why she loved the dress so much because it made it impossible for anyone to try and slip their hand underneath without her noticing, but for some reason it felt tighter than usual.

"I have to stop going over to Maya's," she said as she slipped on her shoes. Her pregnant best friend was always making something for her to taste. Riley walked over to the scale and stood on it hoping that she was imagining it but when she looked down she saw that she had gained seven pounds. "The woman is fattening me up… she's going to eat me if she can I swear."

Riley was just joking, especially since her mother had been telling her that she had been too skinny for so long, she hadn't realized that her relationship had effected how she was eating and taking care of herself. Now she didn't want to lose the weight, because her face was more full and her skin was starting to glow.

"Maybe this isn't as bad as I thought it would be," she said thinking about the vacation. Evan was nowhere near her so she could actually relax. Even if she was doing things that she normally didn't do like washing the car, or having long conversations with her friends. So much of who she had been was tied to her ex that she hadn't realize just how much she had been missing.

Riley walked out of her room her hair curled but tied in a loose ponytail to the side, and like Maya said she went very light on the make-up. She wasn't sure if anything with Lucas would go anywhere but she felt great and didn't care about anything else. As she walked out of the house she saw Lucas pulling up, she had thought they were meeting there but this was a welcome surprise.

"Hi Lucas," she said walking down the stairs as he got out of the car.

When he looked up to say hello Riley saw how he had stopped at the sight of her, she realized at that moment that maybe this wasn't so bad. She hadn't read the signs wrong and maybe he was just a shy nervous wreck around her, just like she was a clumsy person around him.

"Hi," he said his voice dropping a few octaves. "You look great… um beautiful." She heard him mumble something else but his voice was too low for her to hear what he was saying. "Well let's get to the bar and we could talk and eat."

"Yeah that would be great I'm starved," she said walking carefully down the stairs and into his car.

Lucas was floored by how Riley looked, the moment he saw her in that tight yellow dress his brain decided to take the night off and give all the control to his dick. He needed to think clearly because he did actually have business to talk with Riley about but god she looked good in that dress. Every time she smiled at him throughout the car ride all it did was jack up his libido and make him want to turn the car around and go back to her house just so he could have his way with her. He really should have had more casual relationships in the last seven years, but his daughter was his only priority.

By the time they got to Larry's the place was packed with people, so when he spotted Zay and his girlfriend Vanessa he walked Riley over there.

"Hey there sugar," Zay said at the sight of Riley. "What brings you here this fine evening?"

"Cut the crap Zay," Lucas said trying to deflect his best friend's need to flirt with anything that walks. Vanessa laughed making Lucas wonder how the woman hadn't kicked her boyfriend's ass for the way he acts. "You're in my table Zay, I reserved it earlier."

"Yeah but I told them we were together," Zay said which only caused Lucas to roll his eyes before turning to Riley to apologize.

"Sorry about this," he said but she just shook her head.

"It's alright," she said before sitting down next to Vanessa in the booth which meant he was going to block her in when he sat down. "Hi I'm Riley," she said when she turned towards the other woman.

"I'm Vanessa, I'm Zay's girlfriend," Vanessa answered with a smile.

"Ah so you can keep him in line," Riley said looking over at Zay who had on the biggest smile he could possibly have. "Or at least you try you poor poor woman."

"No it's fine, it's like a faucet with him, he's always on, but I know how to shut him off, plus he knows if he actually tries anything my brothers would kick his ass."

"So Riley," Zay says as he turns his attention to the brunette sitting next to Lucas. "What brings you to our small part of the world? Well other than your Uncle Josh, you do know it's weird that he's your Uncle, he's like 30 and you're what 25 or something?"

"I'm 27, almost 28 he's two years older than I am," she said making Lucas more interested in the conversation. He wants to get to know her better. "Anyway, I'm here for personal reason, but mostly because I needed some time away."

Lucas could tell from the look in her eyes there was something more but when Zay was going to push it, he kicked his best friend. "Riley is an author," Lucas said trying to divert the conversation from what Riley was trying to keep to herself. "She's going to do a book signing at the fair. That's why we're having dinner."

"This isn't a date," Zay said as he looked between the two of them surprised. "I thought you two liked each other." This time Vanessa was the one to kick Zay, well Lucas knew she didn't kick him so much as shoved her heel into his foot.

"You know," Vanessa said standing up. "I think I see another free table, come on Zay."

As she pulled him up Zay began protesting but the woman had given him a hard look before Zay relented and pushed off the booth leaving Riley and Lucas alone.

"She does have control over him," Riley said once the couple was out of the booth and across the room.

"It happens, plus they've been in love since High School so she's had a lot of practice with him," Lucas said as he picked up the menu.

Riley turned to him and smiled. "I did find out something about you though," she said.

"And what would that be?"

"You like me," she smiled so wide he swore her eyes were shining in the dark corner of the bar they were at. "I thought that you were just awkward all of the time but at least someone confirmed it for me."

"Yes, Riley I like you, but I've been so busy since my father died nine years ago that I haven't had the chance to really date," outside of his wife which he didn't want to bring up the painful memories. "I was well… I had dated but it was no one I really liked."

Riley blushed next to him making him think about how it made her even more beautiful than ever. He wanted this night to go well but he also needed to actually talk to her about the fair because he was asked to confirm somethings.

"Anyway, let's actually get through the work part of all of this and we could talk more about everything else later, maybe even get a real date after this," he said smiling at her. "What kind of publicity are you alright with?"

"Um well, I'm not sure my team back home usually gets all of this done, and I'm alright with most things like interviews and signings, sometimes I go on lectures tours because I write for a magazine as well."

"Are you really famous? Or is it the fact that I don't have time to read?"

"Well my last book was on the bestseller list for several months, so it could just be the fact that you don't really read all that much. Plus, it's epic level fiction, but I want to branch out and they keep telling me not to do it."

Riley was not going to tell him about her other writings, she wanted this to be all Riley Matthews and not her alter ego, because as much fun as it was to write as someone else, it still felt wrong to lie to others about it. She wasn't going to stop because it kept her from pulling her hair out when she tried to write a book that could get her a Pulitzer, because that's what they expect of her and her Ivy League education. No one expected Jexica Lawrence the romance writer to be the same person as Riley Matthews.

Today she just wanted to be regular Riley getting to know a guy who was different from every other guy she had ever dated. "Do you want a copy? I can get you one so you can read it."

Lucas smiled at her but shook his head. "Don't worry too much, I'll just order it off of Amazon and give you the royalties. I'll talk to the ladies heading the fair about getting something together with your people. I don't know a lot about this but they asked me to ask you about it because they don't know you personally."

"Well I've been here for a week and the only people I've met have either been very helpful, or they just look at me like I'm some kind of interloper."

"They're probably just trying to get to know you," he said smiling.

"Nope, that Mrs. Jones, the one who hit me, she doesn't really like me so much, the other day she started giving me super dirty looks. Probably because she can't drive around anymore."

"Nah it's more than that, she's been trying to get her son into my company for years, and her granddaughter to be my wife even though I've told them I'm not interested in the slightest. Although you might like her granddaughter, she doesn't want to be with me either, we've had conversations about it for years."

"Then why does the granddaughter deal with it?"

"Well she's in love with one of my clients, they've been having a quiet affair for the last year, and even though they want to make it public, like my family the Jones' are one of the founding families. The elders believe, well her parents and grandparents anyway, they believe that we belong together and have tried and failed several times to get us together."

Riley laughed at him, "That just sounds ridiculous."

"Yeah well they see it as maintaining tradition, I on the other hand would rather would like to see them stop and leave me alone for once. It's hard enough doing the fair every year, running a business and the million other things I have to do because of who I am."

"Well screw tradition, it's not all it's cracked up to be anyway," she said as the waiter came to their table and took their order. They both asked for burgers, Lucas asked for a beer while Riley decided that since she wasn't driving she was going to drink a vodka cranberry and enjoy herself for the night.

"Does your family have any traditions?" Lucas asked once the waiter left.

"Well not really, there's one where we would go to Coney Island for the last ride on the Cyclone, but the only thing that comes close to tradition on the level of this town is probably not living up to the expectation that you have to follow in your parent's footsteps. My dad is a teacher and my mom is a lawyer, I because a writer, my little brother became a detective in the NYPD, my older brother is a chef in a restaurant in LA."

"That's pretty impressive," he smiled at her. "All I did was take over the family business and get a Veterinary license because I would rather take care of the animals myself. Everything else in the business takes care of itself."

"Yeah but because you stayed here you're still the town's golden son…" she stopped trying to not laugh and failing at it. "Sorry that sounded super weird."

Lucas laughed with her for a moment before a woman stepped up to their table and sat down next to him, which only made Riley nervous. The woman was tall and beautiful with long brown hair and legs for days. She was dressed in a pink halter dress with a big smile which seemed as though it was only for Lucas.

"Hi Missy," Lucas said greeting their new booth mate. "What brings you here today?"

"I'm meeting Jake, and he's well late because you left early so he had to finish up everything by himself."

"No he didn't," Lucas said rolling his eyes. "Riley, this is Missy, she's the granddaughter of Mrs. Jacobs."

Riley looked at him confused before she realized who he was talking about, "Oh… OH, um hi."

"I'm guessing you told her about our shared history," Missy said smiling at Riley before looking over to Lucas, and giving him a nod which Riley didn't understand before Missy turned back to her. "I'm sorry my Gamma hit you with the car, I usually keep the keys away from her but my dad was the one watching her that day and he's all about letting her do what she wants, so seriously I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I mean I just want for the insurance to pay for the damage, that's all," Riley said hoping that it only came out as if she didn't want to trouble anyone for anything. She was only angry because the old woman had sped off soon after the accident.

"I'll make sure they don't give you any trouble, knowing my dad he'll try because he always wants to make everything the other person's fault."

"I remember the last time that happened, and I think your dad is still bitter because it didn't come out in his favor," Lucas said as if it would fill in a lot more of the story for Riley to understand. "Then again a lot of things don't."

"Yeah he's going to be even more pissed when he finds out about Jake, who by the way asked me to marry him last night."

"He told me something about that," Lucas said smiling.

"Well I told him yes because he's perfect for me, and he knows how to treat a lady, not that you're a brute but I can't see myself with the guy who treats me like a sister, and I only think of him as my weird older brother."

Riley followed their conversation as best as she could and came to the conclusion that Missy was a good person, stuck in a life filled with Family legacies, just like Lucas. "How are you going to explain this to your family?" she asked genuinely curious.

"Well," Missy started while looking down at her hands. "We're going to elope at the end of the week, and plan the wedding for the same day a year from then. We've been together long enough to know that this was the best way to do it, because if we wait my dad would try and find a way to get me hitched to Lucas and I don't really want that."

"Missy, if you and Jake need a witness I'll be happy to be there for you," Lucas said and Riley realized that he was a really good person at heart, all of the things he had done for her in the last few days had been the way he was.

Missy didn't stay long after that, Jake a handsome young Latin man came over to steal her away shortly after introducing himself to Riley. Lucas had told Riley that Jake's family was originally from Mexico, when Texas had been a part of the country. He was another legacy child, but unlike Lucas, he wasn't as high on the social stratosphere because he's Mexican. Lucas hated that and hired the man right after they finished college, now Jake ran as much of the Friar Ranching business as Lucas did. They were all good friends, even Zay who worked as a police officer had his hand in the ranching business, after Lucas' father died his friends had helped him and he was grateful for it.

Riley continued to drink even though she didn't normally do so, as they talked about the fair, and her books, she fell into an easy conversation with Lucas. They had stayed at the table until well after midnight and when they were leaving she felt uneasy on her feet. Her mind was buzzed but she wasn't completely drunk, which gave her a little courage as she stepped into Lucas' car.

"Home Jeeves," she said giggling. Lucas looked at her and tried his best not to laugh before pulling away.

He couldn't believe that Riley had drank so much, one minute they were talking to Missy, the next Riley was laughing at him while trying to explain to him the merits of having relations with a random stranger. He had hoped that she had been joking, but after her fourth drink he decided to cut her off. As cute as she was sober she was adorable when she drinks, her personality became more alive, but he didn't want to take advantage of that so he made sure she ate and drank water. At this point she was more buzzed than drunk.

When he pulled into the house Riley jumped out of the car and sat down on the porch steps looking out at the grassy field in front of her. Lucas had realized that with many of the houses around the river, they were much larger properties with lush lawns and trees everywhere. Her nearest neighbor was some good ways down the road, which is good for her since she was trying to relax according to what she had told him. So he sat down next to her and looked out at the field relaxing. His daughter was at a sleepover with a group of her friends, so he had the night to himself.

"You know," Riley said after a minute had passed. "I've never had a casual relationship in my whole life, every one of my relationships were long term. I dated my best friend's brother for a while but we ended up being better friends than boyfriend and girlfriend. Not that those two are related anyway but whatever, they're family to me."

"Well if we're confessing," he said looking at her brown eyes, in the darkness of night it felt as though the stars were hiding in there. "I haven't been in a relationship in nearly eight years, but I've had a couple casual ones, they never went anywhere."

"How does one do that? You know just get into that kind of fling," she sighed. "Maybe I need to go through one to just you know, get my life in perspective because my last boyfriend was a real tool."

Lucas couldn't help but smile, because she was being brutally honest with him and it was refreshing to hear. In that town almost everyone walked on eggshells around him because of who he was. He had to be polite but in reality he wanted to be a little reckless, or at least have something to live for outside of the life he had. The only thing he didn't want to change was his little girl who was perfect in every way.

He wanted to say something to Riley, assure her that sometimes casual relationships of any kind are normal but sometimes not very satisfying in any way. Before he could say anything at all she had gotten up and sat down on his lap taking all of the air out of him.

"I've always been the good girl, I just want to be a little different for once," she said looking down at him. His control snapped and he flipped them around so that Riley way lying down on the porch under him, her skin smelling like strawberries and coconut which was different from the way she normally smelled.

"From the moment I met you I've thought about having you in my arms again," he said his voice rougher than usual. "I've been about keeping everyone happy, being Lucas the good, the kid from the right side of the tracks doing great things in this town. But you threw a wrench in that scenario the minute you fell into my arms. The way you smell drives me crazy that I can't talk in full sentences and I've mess up in asking you out several times."

"Really?" she said looking at him confused. "I just thought you weren't good at talking."

"No I'm normally good at that, but you're so damn perfect that all rational thought just leaves my head."

"Well that's good to know."

"You want to know something else," he said as he lowered himself down towards her ear. "I want you."

He heard her breath hitch and when he looked at her face her lips had parted and he couldn't help himself anymore so he pressed his lips to hers and kissed her as if she had all the air he needed. Her lips were soft against his, but when he slipped his tongue into her mouth he embraced the warmth inside, tasting her. The mix of the cranberry juice and the softness of her tongue against his was already driving him mad but he held back because he knew that he didn't want to take advantage of her. She had been drinking and even now he was afraid that he would cross a line so instead of taking anything for himself he wanted to give her all the pleasure he could before leaving.

"I'm going to be a gentleman about this," he said his voice a hoarse whisper. "I've going to give you the best orgasm you can get from something casual and then I'm going to leave."

"How exactly are you going to do that?" she whispered.

"I'm going to give you everything, and take nothing from you, and maybe when we're both clear headed in the morning we can revisit the possibility of pursuing something more well casual."

Riley only nodded to him, she didn't think that she could have seduced anyone let alone Lucas who had been very quiet around her whenever they were in the same room. But god the way the man smelled was like a drug, he smelled like sunscreen and musk and it drove her up a wall. She hadn't really been drunk, a little buzzed yes but she had made sure that her drinks had been completely cranberry with no alcohol. She knew she needed a level head for what everyone had told her to try out for the summer but now she wished that she hadn't let Lucas think she was drunk because she wanted everything he could offer to her.

Before she could say anything Lucas had kissed her on the lips again and she felt like she was drowning in lust from the thought of what he was going to do to her. His hands were on her legs and it felt like fire was traveling up her legs.

 _God this is hot_ , she thought to herself, as he pulled the bottom part of the dress up revealing the soft white panties she had been wearing. She was glad she had gone with the ones that had a bit of lace that matched her bra. He grabbed her butt and lifted her up just to be able to move the dress up further until her butt felt the hardwood of the porch. She was ready to just fall apart at that moment without a second thought, but the soft kisses he gave her neck down to her collarbone made her giddy at what he was going to do.

His hands traveled up towards her breast and gave them a light squeeze before he made his way down towards her uncovered legs. She hissed when he lifted her injured leg before he placed a soft kiss on the bandage covering her stitches. He made his way down towards her thighs and she thought her head was going to explode from the amount of touching he was doing.

"Lucas," she said softly pleading with him.

He looked up to her asking her for permission and she was about ready to scream out at him to get moving when all she could do was sigh and nod. She felt his finger slip the soft material of her panties to the side, and she felt the warm summer air travel through her body. She let out a moan that she honestly never thought existed before, she had always been quiet in bed but god she wanted to scream out now.

He kissed her inner thigh as he slipped a finger inside of her, and it took everything she had not to scream out from the feeling of his finger inside of her.

"Oh Riley," she heard him say through the hazy fog in her mind. "You're so beautiful."

Before she could say anything she felt the soft press of his lips against her heat and she lost her mind. None of her boyfriends had ever gone down on her, they always asked her to blow them but they never offered the same to her so she never really gave them the satisfaction, and here she was with Lucas who hadn't even asked for a blow job. Lucas who went down on her without a second thought. They weren't even dating, it was just a casual thing.

She could feel her mind fading as the pleasure built inside of her, the man was a god with that tongue of his. "Lucas," she whispered trying really hard to not come apart at that moment, but instead she covered her mouth with her arm and let out a loud sound that she never knew she had inside of her before her whole body turned to mush. Lucas quietly covered her back up before pulling her arm away and leaning down to kiss her.

"Goodnight Riley," he said winking at her.

"Wait," she said pulling herself off of the porch. She was lucky that she could walk after that but she stood.

"Next time," he said as if he knew what she was going to ask. "Get some sleep."

She smiled at him as he climbed back into his car. "Goodnight Lucas," she said as he waved at her and drove off.

It took her about a minute after she walked back into the house to realize that what they had done was out in the open for anyone to see. "Oh god," she said internally freaking out. She wasn't really voyeuristic, she had never even made out with someone in public and now she had had an orgasm in full view of the world.

Instead of dwelling on it for too long she walked into the office and turned the air conditioner up as high as possible and wrote everything that had happened down on her computer. Saving everything before climbing the stairs and showering and going to bed. She decided to not think about any of it, and just dwell on the fact that a guy had given her something without asking for anything which was rare these days.


	4. Chapter Four

**A/N: This chapter got a little heavy very quickly, but the two of them are talking so that's the start of something. I'm trying to build their relationship a little better, while moving the story along.**

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

"Wake up sleepy head," someone said next to Riley. Someone she wanted to kill for waking her up because she was having a particularly dirty dream about having her way with Lucas. Riley opened her eyes to see her very pregnant friend sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What do you want Maya," Riley said yawning as she turned over to face her. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Yes, it's after 2 in the afternoon, geez Riles what time did you go to bed last night?" Maya said as she stood up.

"I think it was 10 in the morning when I crawled into bed," Riley sighed sitting up and moving towards the edge of the bed. "I need some freaking coffee."

"Let's go get you some, and you can tell me about your date with Lucas that the whole freaking town is talking about but I have no idea what happened because my best friend didn't think to send me a message about. What did I do to deserve this Riley?" Maya said acting fake hurt.

Riley rolled her eyes as she brushed her teeth. "Not my fault Maya, I kinda stayed up all night writing, but you're welcome to read it if you want."

"Oh my god you wrote the night into a novel didn't you, I was just joking about that, but you went and did it. Give it to me now," Maya said walking out the door before Riley could stop her.

By the time Riley had showered and changed into clean clothes, Maya was waiting in the study reading through what Riley had written, with a cup of coffee waiting for her. Riley sat down on the soft couch next to the desk and waited until the blonde had finished reading.

"Shit Riles, is this all true?" Maya said looking over at her. "I only know the part of the plan was for you to get ideas from Lucas for your books."

"I talked to Charlie about this," Riley sighed thinking about her earlier conversation with her other best friend. "And I know he told you about this crazy plan to use what happens in real life in my novels but seriously I think I may have added more than usual into that story."

"Riles did Lucas go down on you on the front porch," Maya said bluntly, and Riley knew that there was no way she could lie to her best friend.

"Yes he did, and he didn't ask for anything in return either."

"Wow, and according to this you think that the reason why he didn't do anything more is because he thought you were drunk, Riley you're literally writing your encounters with him. Everything else is made up unless he came to the house on a white horse, but yeah you've written everything else down. By the way where did the horse come from?"

"He works on a ranching business, I think I just let my mind get away from me on that one," Riley felt herself sink in the couch as she looked at her very pregnant best friend. "Is this okay, I mean the writing about our almost sex life in the book."

"I think it is because this is hotter than anything you've written before, and you're writing better smut now than before. God I could kick myself for letting you date Evan at all because apparently he never inspired you to write literal porn."

Riley groaned at what Maya was saying before standing up. "I'm going to get some food, and while we eat we need to discuss the possibility of me seducing a certain cowboy and how to do it because I was just winging it last night."

Maya smiled at her and followed her out the door, the two of them gathered bagels and donuts in the kitchen before settling on the porch to take in the summer breeze and so that Riley could clear her head. She needed to get the image of Lucas out of her head but it was permanently trapped in her mind.

"You and Josh aren't really friends with him," Riley said as they started eating.

"We're kind of outsiders here, we only moved here because they offered Josh the job so we only know a few people, anything personal about Lucas that I know comes from what Josh hears at the station but the man is a very private person."

"What do you know?"

"Only that there's a family who wants to marry into the Friar family, that everyone loves him, and that he was divorced but that's it. For some reason he's very private and makes sure that his business stays his."

"Wait he's divorced? For how long?"

"According to some of the ladies in town it's been nearly eight years, he married young but got divorced a year or so later."

"That's something new, but I did meet the girl whose family wants to marry into Lucas' family, she's nice and engaged to someone else so that's never going to go anywhere."

Maya sighed. "Why does this feel more complicated than it should be?"

"When is my life not complicated, I'm the middle child of the power couple of the world."

Before Maya could say anything else a white car pulled up to the house, and Missy got out smiling at the two of them, before going to the side of the car and grabbing something.

"Hi Missy," Riley said smiling. If she needed any information on Lucas why not ask the woman that was supposed to be his wife. "What brings you over today?"

"Well I made some sangria and thought I would share, and also I don't have a lot of girlfriends, mainly because this town is small and everyone judges me because of my family so I thought you would be the best person to talk to… um about… well about wedding stuff."

"Wow, well I'm honored," Riley said smiling at the woman. "Missy this is my best friend Maya, her husband is my Uncle Josh, you know the sheriff."

"Oh, wow I guess I should have introduced myself to you a long time ago," Missy said as she walked towards them. "The sangria is non-alcoholic, because I'm driving so Maya you can have some."

"Oh thank god, I miss drinking, and I miss girl time, being pregnant is a blessing and all but it's depressing when I can't have a drink," Maya said making Riley laugh.

"How about I bring out some cheese and crackers and we can talk about your wedding," Riley said standing up. "And maybe you can help me with my own problem."

"What problem is that?" Missy asked as she sat down.

"The Lucas problem," Maya answered. "Riley likes him, and well they're getting close but he sometimes gets really quiet around her so it's hard for them to form a connection."

"I can definitely help with that because you're helping me even more by being with him. My dad is dead set on marrying the two of us and as much as I love Lucas, well it's more like a brother sister thing."

Riley couldn't help but laugh at what Missy said, it reminded her of Charlie and how she had tried to force herself to stay in that relationship because everyone had once told them that they would be perfect for each other, but she saw him as a brother and nothing more. Now they were the best of friends and she was happier than she had ever been. Except Evan had happened. Riley set the food around the patio table and brought out cups for them to drink out of, she grabbed the speaker she had brought with her from New York, and hooked it on to her phone. The music was soft, classic summer songs so that they would be able to talk and have a little fun while they were at it.

"So," she said once everything was set up. "What can you tell me about Lucas."

"He doesn't like liars, or people who think it's okay to use someone, blame his ex-wife for that. She ran off and sent him the divorce papers like it was nothing," Missy said. "He found out afterwards that she had used him to get some money from him."

Riley felt like scum all of a sudden, because in a way she was using her experience with him to help her out. One to get over what happened with Evan, and second to help her with her book. She wasn't meant to deceive people.

"Well that's interesting, I hadn't known about that," Maya said looking at Riley. Maya knew so well how her mind worked and of course she was trying to divert anything Riley was thinking but it was already in her head. She didn't like to lie to anyone, her pen name was more for her career than anything else.

"Tell me something about yourself Riley," Missy said interrupting Riley's rampant thoughts. "I heard you're a write but I don't know if I've read your stuff. Then again I'm not the most avid reader."

"I write fiction, both of the books have been on the Times Bestseller list, but I'm on a break right now trying to figure out what to write next," Riley said which was technically the truth since her next big fiction book was still being plotted out. "My mom suggested I come down here because this was my great-grandmother's house, and well Maya and Josh lived here."

The three of them talked about Riley's books but her heart wasn't in it, she was tired and she couldn't help but feel like she had lied to Lucas even though he didn't know about it. She wondered if she should come clean but after Missy left Maya had tried to convince her to keep it a secret for a little while longer. The only thing she learned from Missy about Lucas was that he was incredibly hardworking and had done so much before turning thirty.

When she was alone that night she poured her heart into her writing, and giving her story's protagonist the same dilemma she was facing. Whether to tell the truth about who she was, about what she was hiding. At this point Riley was hiding a lot, not only from Lucas but from her friends and family and she didn't know how long she could hide it from them.

* * *

Lucas had a rare Saturday off, his mother had taken Liliana to the city for a ballet that was in town, and they were going to stay the night over there. He finished his rounds in the stables early and was trying to find something to do, but all of his thoughts went to Riley. It had been three days since he last saw her, and his skin was itching to run over there and ask her out again. Instead he grabbed a cold shower and finished up the last of his paperwork before he found himself in his car driving into town, only to turn the car around and drive towards Riley's house. She was a drug and he needed her so badly.

Zay had told him that he needed to just go with the flow when it came to Riley, she was a city girl and in the end she would leave. So he shouldn't get too attached to the brunette, but he craved her. It was a strange feeling, he wanted to give her everything without taking anything in return.

So now he was sitting in his car outside of her house trying to gain the confidence to knock on her door. He took a few deep breaths before getting out and walking towards the front door, he noticed once he was there that the door was wide open which was normal for people who lived in town because everyone knew one another, but for Riley he thought it was strange, because city people always locked the doors even when they were home.

"Riley?" he said out loud but when no one answered he walked inside to look for her, worried that something had happened.

He found her asleep on a couch in the study, with the air conditioner on full blast, Riley curled up into herself as if she was trying to keep the warmth in. The air wasn't freezing cold, since the air conditioner wasn't a large model, and the door was open so the heat from the rest of the house was keeping the room from cooling down. For some reason he saw her as vulnerable in that instance, and not the confident woman he had come to know. They had barely known one another for two weeks but this was the first time he felt as though he were seeing the real person.

"Riley," he whispered trying to wake her but she whimpered next to him and mumbled something he didn't understand. He placed his hand on her shoulder and slightly shook her, "Riley."

Instead of waking up she leaned into his touch, and he thought it was the sweetest thing he could ever see. Her eyes began to flutter open and his were met with a familiar brown.

"Lucas," she said looking at him confused before sitting up to realize that he was real and in front of her. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I had some free time, and was trying to figure out what to do so I thought that maybe we could have another… well another date," he said not knowing why he felt so nervous asking her out. "But we can stay in and watch movies, and maybe get to know one another a little better."

She smiled at him in that moment. "That would be nice, and maybe we can order some take out because I'm starving. I was working all night and I took a walk this morning only to crash right here."

"Alright, the only good take-out in this two is from the taco place run by the Diaz family so I can put in an order, so why don't you freshen up and I'll get to ordering our dinner."

"Give me ten minutes, and can you order some nachos for me, if they have," she said as she rushed out of the room and ran upstairs.

Lucas thought it was adorable the way she went from flustered to determined, he couldn't understand this attraction they had to one another but he didn't mind pursuing. Riley had made him feel alive for once and not the person he had become. He loved being a father but for some reason it didn't make him feel whole, and it made him feel like a bad father because he couldn't give Liliana what she needed. He could blame his parents but in the end the blame was his for what had happened when he got divorced.

He ordered the food and sat around in the warm living room watching as the sun streamed through the curtains. This was a beautiful house, one that he had always admired growing up because it looked so loved, unlike the monster of a house he had inherited from his family. His mother didn't live with him because of all the memories the house held, but it always felt more like a shrine to his family than a home. It was yet another reason he felt that he was a failure as a father.

Riley stood in front of him once she changed smiling at him, "We should eat outside, it's a nice day. Plus, it's hot in here and I don't think I can stand to be in the heat any longer."

"Whatever you say milady," he said gesturing with his hands before leading her out to the porch.

"I'm amazed you didn't go snooping around while I was washing up," she smiled as though she would have done it if she was at his house.

Lucas laughed at what she was saying, "If you were at my house would you have snooped around."

"Well considering from what I can anyway, your house is the biggest in town so I'm thinking there might be a secret room somewhere and I would want to find it because maybe on the inside I could find a secret gold stash or something."

"There's no secret room in that house, but I swear the ghost of my ancestors haunt the place."

Riley laughed at him, it was sweet how he humored her and she liked it. She had also thought about her conversation with Missy and Maya, and since she didn't want to tell him about the romance novel she was writing, she did want to be more honest with the man. She couldn't deal with having a bad relationship with Lucas of any kind. So while they waited for their food she set the table on the porch, and thought about how to talk to him.

It was strange in a way, she had kept most of her deepest secrets from everyone, but if they were going to start a relationship of any kind she wanted to be truly honest with him about it. Once they sat down, with some left over sangria that Missy had left behind Riley knew that it was the right decision.

"So I thought that we should be up front with whatever this is," she said staring up at the green eyes in front of her. "I'm only here for a short time, and while I like what's happening between the two of us I think that you should know that there's well a time limit."

"I wanted to talk to you about it too, and well I was going to suggest we just go with it until you had to leave. I mean I knew you weren't going to stay here permanently considering I've never seen anyone stay in this house more than a few months," he said automatically regretting it when he saw her face shift. "Sorry."

"It's okay, at least you're being honest, and as much as I like this house… well it's not really my style. My office at home has a bay window and I miss it so much."

"Can I ask something?"

"Sure, since we're being honest here. Ask away," she said looking at her drink.

"Why are you here? Other than the fact that you're here to drive me crazy, and I don't really mind because I don't normally ask anyone out, but for some reason you're the exception."

Riley knew that she would have to tell someone, no one other than her mother and the NYPD knew about what had happened before she left. She made sure that it never got out because of who she was, but since the conversation with Missy and Maya, Riley knew that she needed someone to know about it while she was in Texas.

"Well… um… it's a long story, and one that I don't really like to share and if I tell you," she could feel her hands shaking as she tried to figure out a way to tell him. "Well you have to promise me that no one else will know."

"I promise, but Riley why are you shaking?" he asked but she shook her head the moment she saw the food delivery car pull up. Lucas needed to be the only one she told, she didn't want anyone else involved. She watched Lucas pay for the food and was thinking about telling him to forget about it but her mother had said that she needed to talk to someone.

When Lucas came back and sat down, he gave her a small smile and that's when her resolve crumbled. She started crying and couldn't stop, the weight of her life pushing down on her shoulders. Lucas didn't make a comment, he only wrapped his arms around her waiting until she calmed down enough to start talking again.

"Sorry," she said to him as she wiped the last of the tears from her eyes. "I've been a tough couple of years."

"I can understand that," he said to her. "How about I share my story with you and when you're ready you can share with me what you want to say."

"Okay," she said her voice a quiet whisper.

"Okay, well I'm pretty sure someone told you that I'm divorced, especially since I know Missy's sangria anywhere. I've been drinking it at barbeques for years. When I was in college I met my ex-wife, we had been together I think for six months before she told me she was pregnant, and of course being the nice small town boy, I married her. Everyone told me that it was a lie, and a mistake, which I should have listened to them, although the pregnancy wasn't a lie and I do have a daughter."

"You have a kid, why haven't I heard about that?" Riley asked him surprised about what he was saying.

"Let me finish, and yes I have a kid, she's sarcastic and snarky at times, she would rather stay home and read or climb trees instead of going to ballet classes, and whatever instrument class my mother has signed her up for. Anyway, we moved back here and into that giant house. I thought we were happy, until the day after my daughter was born when my wife disappeared leaving behind divorce papers and a letter stating that since she hadn't signed a prenup she was entitled to half of everything. I don't think she realized that we were living in my parents' house and that none of that was mine, so her got half of my inheritance, which wasn't huge to begin with and I got to keep my daughter."

"How can someone just leave their child like that?" Riley was truly astonished at how someone could do something so cruel to a child.

"I ask myself that every day, but I love my daughter and I would leave everything I have to my ex if it meant that I got Liliana."

"That's sweet," she said to him, taking his hand in hers and squeezing. "Okay my turn," she took a deep breath realizing that this was something she needed to do. "Two years ago, I found my boyfriend in bed with another woman… and another man. He always said I was a prude, because I didn't do anything with him. But I realized since that night on the porch here with you that, well that wasn't the case, maybe it was something that went off in my head that I ignored, and well most people didn't know that he was involved in a threesome because I kept it from them… well anyway, I got angry at him because… well he never really said anything nice to me to begin with. Well at first he did, but after we moved in together he started to chip away at my self-esteem, I didn't know it was happening."

Lucas was about to say something but she stopped him and continued. "Let me finish, it's a little hard to say anything about this and the only people that know are living in New York. Anyway, instead of leaving like I should have, I stayed and tried to make it work, but all it took was one moment between the two of us to change everything. I thought I loved him, you know that real kind of love, but in reality it was just him manipulating me. At the time I was finishing up my third novel, the book never came out because I felt that it was tainted by what happened, you see he took my work and changed it before submitting it to a publisher, the book was going to be published last year but they found out that he had taken it from me."

"Really, this guy seems like scum," Lucas said interrupting her.

"That's not the half of it, when I confronted him he hit me, he told me that I was useless and worthless and that he shouldn't have wasted so much time on me. I decided to leave and go stay with my mother," Riley stopped for a moment, because as much as everyone knew the beginning of the story, no one knew the ending because it hurt too much. "We got into a fight as I was leaving, and I hadn't known at the time or else I wouldn't have confronted him. The first time he hit me pretty hard, I thought I felt my brain shake in my head. He told me that he would take everything from me and make sure that I was left with nothing. I was so shocked that I didn't think to fight back, I only thought that I should just walk away."

"Riley," Lucas said pulling her closer, but she shook her head.

"I made it to the stairs before he grabbed me again, only this time he punched me and I fell. The next thing I knew I woke up in the hospital, and they were telling me that my boyfriend had saved my life. He had told them this story about me being mugged outside of the apartment and how he rescued me, when I saw him in the hallway he gave me this smile that made me want to scream."

She didn't scream, although she wanted to and at that moment she wanted to scream too. "Lucas I'm telling you this because a lot of stuff happened, but my ex is still a free man, even though I filed charges against him, even though I told the police what had happened. He's free because of who he is, so I did what I could, I left my mother helped me find a new place, and helped me move forward while she worked behind the scenes to make sure that something stuck. But what made everything worse was that I was pregnant when he pushed me down those stairs, I hadn't known at the time and I thought it was just stress that was making me sick."

She cried I his arms, she hadn't told Maya about the baby, she hadn't told her mother or anyone except for her therapist. She held it in for the last two years because she couldn't fall apart. Evan got the apartment, but she took everything that mattered to her. She didn't want to think about him, but telling Lucas at this moment gave her a little freedom from the life she had left behind.

"I told Maya that yes it was only for the summer, but in my mind I told myself that if I liked it here, maybe it would be a good place to start over. I didn't know I was going to meet you, or even Missy who is the sweetest person. I didn't know I had missed my best friend so much until I was sitting around talking to her. New York had always been my home, but now it feels like I could have a home anywhere."

Lucas sighed, he didn't know what to think, but he knew that if he could have something with Riley he was willing to take a chance on it. Even when he felt awkward around her and started babbling, as long as she smiled he was alright.

"I have a proposition for you, and well it's a… it's a little weird since well the other night and well… um… you know what happened," he said stumbling over his words. "Anyway, how about we start this, whatever it is, all over again. Forget about whether this is temporary or permeant, how about we start this off like a normal relationship, this being our third date, because I'm counting the hospital visit as a date."

Riley laughed at him but nodded making his body relax. "I would like that, plus you're nice, and everyone I've met loves you, and you have a kid so maybe you can't be that bad," she said. "I would like that. I think it would be good for the both of us, considering how people jaded us in the past."

"That's one way to put it," he said smiling. "I'm sorry your ex was a dick to you."

"And I'm sorry your ex didn't know what she had."

* * *

A/N: In the next chapter, because I can't hide the preview in the tags here like I do with Tumblr, well Riley's going to tell Lucas her other secret, and that will lead to other things in there relationship... he freaks out... but in reality Lucas actually likes it.


	5. Chapter Five

**A/N: Just me answering the comments**

 **The Talent - Sadly Farkle isn't in this, neither is Smackle, I had to make a decision when I started plotting out this story and the Superhero AU, so I put Joshaya in this one, and Smarkle in the Superhero one that I'm going to write right after I finish this story. The reason why it worked out that way was because I couldn't find a place I liked for Farkle in this AU, but he worked very well into the Superhero AU. And I couldn't find a place for Maya in the Superhero AU but I did find a place for her in this one.**

 **Cheerra12 - I think it's in chapter two, it's before their dinner date, and it's a small part that you don't notice it too much. Riley had fallen and busted her leg open and Lucas took her to the hospital.  
**

 **naelacy - I really like writing a nice Missy, I have an idea for another AU where she's a nice person too, but that's something for the future considering the amount of stories I have stuck in my head right now.**

 **Siennese - Good to see you're surviving the summer! I hope you like this story!**

 **Lastly, if I don't update for the next couple of days I'm sorry, I have a presentation for class on Thursday, a court thing on Friday, and a wedding for one of my friends on Saturday. Plus I have to final papers to write for the summer session. I will try to write something before the weekend, but it might be cutting it a little close for me.**

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

Riley sat there as Lucas took their dinner out of the take out bag, she felt lighter than she had been for a long time.

"Lucas," she said as he sat down. "Thank you for listening to me, I've never told anyone about the baby."

"Can I ask why? You don't have to tell me but I think that would have been a huge part of all of this," he said looking at her, before he took her hand.

Riley could only sigh because two years later she still couldn't figure it all out herself. "I didn't tell anyone because I felt as though it was my punishment for picking him, I learned recently that it wasn't but at the time that's what I felt. The reason I haven't told anyone now is that in the end I just wanted to move on, I was hurt for so long that I worked even when I shouldn't have… I should have taken time off, but in the end I just wanted something to distract me. I think now I just want to live and not dwell on it."

He squeezed her hand before lifting it to his lips and placing a soft kiss on it. "Well I guess we have to move forward together."

"Now that we have the heavy out of the way… there's one more thing I want to tell you," she said reminding herself that it's her choice, but in the end she wants him to know the truth. "And honestly I don't know how you'll react and you have to promise not to tell anyone about it either because only a few people know this."

"Okay now you're scaring me," he said to her with a worried look in his eyes.

Riley stood up and walked around the table. "Give me a minute," she said as she went to her office and took the pages of her latest novel and printed them out. Once she walked back to the porch her heart was beating faster than she thought possible. "Don't freak out, but this is from my new book… and well it's not what people know Riley Matthews to write."

Lucas took the pages from her hand smiling, she knew that he was probably feeling honored at having the chance to read something of hers that wasn't published yet. "It's from my pen name, my agent and editor, and even my publicist all told me that if I wanted to write something different and not have it attached to my name that I should use a pseudonym. So I write romance novels under a different name, and when I do tours I wear a disguise of sorts."

He looked at her confused before saying anything, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I've been using our encounters to write, which I don't normally do but my editor told me that I should stop doing vanilla and work on steamier things, and I realize that my knowledge in that area is a little lax."

Lucas couldn't believe what he was hearing, so instead of saying anything he started reading some of the pages that she handed him, and right there in front of him was their first meeting, he flipped further and found the pages that were about the night he had gone down on her, where he thought she was drunk.

"Um… I don't know what to say…" he stood up and walked towards his car in shock before walking further down the drive way. He needed to think, they had just finished having a really heavy conversation and now she gave him this. Riley who looked innocent enough was a romance writer looking for something to add to her books, and that something was having sex with him. He could see her sitting on the porch watching him as he paced in front of the house, as he walked up and down the driveway.

The woman was going to really be the end of him, it was up and down with her and he didn't know where it would end.

 _Maybe I should read one of her books_ , he thought to himself. He wanted to think with his head, but for some reason the thought of having Riley's lips on his and then her writing about it made him a little twitchy, in both a good way and a bad way and he didn't know which side of himself to listen to.

"Lucas," she called out to him but he just kept pacing while thinking about everything they had talked about. Her ex was a piece of work, but apparently he didn't inspire her to write about their sex life in her books, unless the guy hadn't known that she wrote romance novels.

Her hand touched him and he lost his nerve the minute his name left her lips, instead of saying anything he pulled her in and kissed her.

"Okay," she said when he pulled away.

"Can I read some of your books?" he asked knowing that he needed to know all of the variables before he agreed to anything.

"So you're okay with this, or at least the possibility of it?" she said to him.

"I'm not agreeing yet, although I think it's sexy as hell, but I want to get to know you better, and at least take you out on another date."

"I can agree to that," she said before she pulled him back to where their food waited. "Give me a sec, okay."

She walked into the house leaving Lucas to think that maybe this was a good idea, for the both of them. Riley needed to move forward as much as he did and if she wanted to use that time for plot devices for her books, he was fine with that too. From what he's learned so far from knowing her, even for such a short time, is that she's fun, but she still has a little part of herself that has trust issues. She's giving him a chance because she wants to even though she doesn't have to. For him she's stronger than anyone he's ever met.

"Okay," she said as she walked back with a handful of books. "I usually have copies of them with me, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone that I write these."

She placed all the books in front of him and the first thing he noticed was the name Jexica, he thought it was cute for some reason, even more so when he saw the picture of her on the back with a wig of blue hair on her head.

"This is so cute," he said to her smiling. "And I understand that you're trusting me with this so I'm going to make sure no one knows."

"Thank you," she said smiling at him. "Now let's eat, you can ask me questions after you've read at least one of them."

"I only have one right now."

"What?" she said as she picked up a nacho and bit into it her eyes closing as the cheese melted, which only caused him to shift his full attention to her lips before he remembered that he was talking to her.

He cleared his throat to remind himself that he needed to focus for a moment. "Why didn't you use your real name?" his voice sounded a bit hoarse because his thoughts were elsewhere.

"Ah, it's because well, the big books I write, the ones that I'm doing the signing for at the end of the summer, they are the big money makers, both of them have been shortlisted for a number of writing prizes, remember how I told you that my agent told me that I shouldn't think of writing anything else under my name," she sighed for a moment. "For some reason once you're attached to a certain genre, they're leave you there, all of your books will be stuck there even if you write the next big thing no one will take you seriously."

"Is that really true?" he asked needing to understand the writing world for her sake.

"Yes in a way it is, some authors don't find success in other markets because of a stigma they can't really cross over. They'll make money from their first cross over but they will always be attached to the type of stories they write."

"That sounds a bit cutthroat if you ask me."

"You're telling me," she said before digging into her food. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure since this has become a get to know you better dinner."

"Well it's more like a real date if anything," she smiled at him giving him the full force of her brown eyes. "Can you tell me more about your daughter?"

It had caught him by surprise, but it was also the first time he had gone on a date and the woman had expressed interest in his daughter. Mostly the women were more interested in the bottom lining of his wallet.

"Okay, here's a recent one," he said smiling as he thought about his little girl. "Liliana wants a dog, not one of those cute little ones like all of the girls have in her school, she wants a golden retriever or a black lab, so anyway we've been going around to shelters hoping that one day one of them will show up. She's always excited about it, but when I told my mother she absolutely freaked out, my mother is all about proper etiquette and being the best at everything. She's one of those old fashion southern women, anyway it was the first time I had ever seen Lili freak out in front of my mother and also the reason why they ended up going to the ballet in the city this weekend."

"What exactly did she say to your mother?"

"She told my mother that she didn't have a say in what she and I did at home, and then she threw a temper tantrum and ran to her room slamming the door three or four times before locking herself away. Usually she's a nice little girl towards my mother, but this was the one time she cracked because she really wants that dog."

"You spoiler her rotten don't you?"

"No I don't, she has to eat her vegetables and I make her keep her room clean, she's a good kid, I think she just wants someone to be there for her when I can't, it's one of the reasons she wants a dog. I can't fault her for that, she needs her mother but she doesn't have her so she's settling for a pet."

Riley sighed thinking about the fact that Lucas was a good father, and although their relationship wasn't defined just yet, she wanted the chance to meet the little girl in the future.

"My brother has a black lab in New York, he got him before he met his wife, she's got a lab too, it's how they met, anyway," she said smiling at Lucas as she thought about her brother and his wife Ava. "They just had a couple of pups a few months ago, Auggie, that's my brother, anyway he's been training them because he wanted them to be service dogs, but I can ask him for one if you want… well if you want to give one to your daughter."

"Wow Riley that would be wonderful, Lili would love it," he said taking her hand and squeezing it. "What exactly does your brother do with the police?"

"Because I told you about the dogs?" she asked and he smiled at her nodding. "He's the trainer for the police dogs, he goes on patrol and everything but his regular job is as the trainer for the pups. When you started talking about the dogs my brother was the first person I thought of."

She was amazed at how easy it was to talk to Lucas, about anything even the hard stuff, it was so simple she hadn't realized that she was missing this part of her life until now. All it took was two weeks, but she also knew that she needed to tread carefully because of her past experience. The only thought of how to make sure Lucas wasn't anything like Evan was to meet his daughter, the best judge of character for someone is their own family. She had never met Evan's parents, even though they were still alive, in the entire time they were together.

"I have to ask him how do you ship a dog though, so it might take a while," she said trying to steer her brain back from her warring thoughts.

"That's fine with me, I have some reading to do this week, but I would like to take you on another date sometime, or we could just have a movie night or something."

"I have a better idea," she said smiling. "How good are you with installing central air?" Lucas laughed at her, and Riley could help but feel happy about it. "I'm serious Lucas, this house is a freaking sauna and it's killing me."

"Well I have time today so let's go check out the units and see which one you want," he said still smiling. "Sadly I can't install it but because they have to work on somethings but we can shop for it together."

"That's fine with me," she said standing up. "Let me get my shoes and we can go."

* * *

Shopping for the unit only took about two hours, but Riley was so happy the entire time, but now she was worried. It had been four days since she talked with Lucas about the whole novel thing and what it meant for a part of their relationship. The central air had been installed and Riley decided to work on another part of the house only to keep herself from worrying about. She wondered if the house would make a cute bed and breakfast, but as she worked on the weeds in the front of the porch she realized how much she actually liked the house.

It had four bedrooms, but could use a master bathroom instead of the single one it had on the top floor. The attic looked like it could be a really nice office for her and her millions of books back in New York. The lighting and heating needed to be updated, and the outside could use a paint job but once it was finished it would be a cute little house. She could afford a remodel to the house, she made enough money for it.

"Whatcha doing?" a little voice said from behind her, making Riley turn around to come face to face with a bright blonde haired little girl.

"I'm pulling the weeds out," Riley said before looking around to see if there was anyone with the little girl. "Who are you?"

The little girl got quiet for a moment before sitting down next to Riley, "My grandma kept talking about how you're going to ruin my daddy, so I just wanted to check you out myself."

Riley couldn't help but look at the little blonde and wonder what was happening, but then she realized who the girl's father was. "Liliana?"

"That's me, Liliana Marie Friar," she said "Are you going to ruin my daddy?"

"Not really, we're dating but that's about it… but I'm shouldn't be the one answering questions here young lady," Riley said thinking about how her mother reacted the one time she had gotten lost inside of Macy's during Christmas. "How did you get over here? And shouldn't you be with your daddy or your grandmother?"

"My neighbor was babysitting me," Liliana shrugged her shoulders. "She's old and fell asleep so I decided to take a walk over here."

Riley couldn't help but wonder at how Lucas would react to his kid just wandering around, but knowing the people who lived in the area, they all knew who the little girl was and didn't mind.

"Grandma told me to stay at Mrs. Miller's house because she wanted to have words with daddy, and since daddy was at work well… she needed to go there and talk to him."

"I bet your grandmother wouldn't like the fact that you left your babysitter's house now would she?"

"I do it all the time, Mrs. Miller isn't the best babysitter," Liliana said making Riley laugh.

"Well how about we have lunch and I'll walk you back over there when we're finished. You can ask me anything you want, and then you can judge if I'm good enough to be with your dad."

The little girl bounced up off the ground and made her way to the door, as Riley slowly stood up and stretched her legs. As she made her way up the stairs a delivery truck drove into her driveway and stopped causing Riley to stand there and wait. When the driver got out she realized what the delivery was, the puppy, her brother had said that he would send the puppy in a few days.

"Riley Matthews," the driver said. "I'm with the AirPup travels agency, I'm here to deliver Daisy."

"Yes," Riley said walking to meet the driver. He handed her a paper to sign before grabbing a bag full of supplies and toys and handing it to her, before a little black lab was brought out of the back seat. Liliana squealed from the porch and ran down to meet the little dog making Riley smile.

Lucas had discussed with her how they would bring the dog to his house, the only problem was that the little girl had met her dog without her father knowing. The driver thanked her before leaving and Riley decided to pull out her phone and take a few pictures just so Lucas could see them.

"Liliana, do you want to pose with Daisy?" Riley said knowing that the Lili wouldn't be able to resist. "I need to send a picture to my brother to tell him she's here."

She was right the moment the two of them posed for a photo together, even when Daisy started licking Lili up and down and jumping on top of her Riley continued to take pictures. She could feel her heart swell at the thought of telling Lili that the dog was actually for her, but instead decided that Lucas should do it.

"Okay, Lunch for the both of you," Riley said after taking a million pictures. "And then we can walk back to Mrs. Millers house, all three of us."

Liliana smiled and nodded as the three of them walked up the stairs and into the house. Riley made them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and sliced up some bananas for them to share, before serving water and food to Daisy. They ate outside so that Daisy could get comfortable with her surroundings. The moment felt comfortable, and normal, it was what Riley had always wanted when she became a mother. She could feel a small pang in her heart from the loss of her own baby but decided to live in the moment and savor the feeling of happiness.

They were almost done eating when a familiar car drove up the driveway and Lucas stepped out smiling, before stopping at the sight of his daughter.

"Lili?" he said as he walked up towards them.

"Daddy," Liliana replied with a stern sounding voice. Riley knew this kid was trouble, she couldn't stop the laugh that had bubbled up.

"Riley I'm so sorry," he said but she put her hand up to stop him.

"Don't be, it was nice meeting her and letting her judge whether I'm a good influence for you," Riley said to him. "Now she can decide if she likes me or not."

"I like her daddy," Liliana said smiling through her sandwich. "Grandma was wrong."

"Okay but young lady when we get home we're going to have to have a talk about you sneaking off when you're supposed to stay put. I'm pretty sure your grandmother is having a conniption fit right now."

"Fine," the little girl said before turning to Riley. "Can I come back and play with Daisy?"

"Anytime you want to," Riley said smiling before Liliana hugged her. When she was in the car waiting for her father, Riley turned to Lucas smiling. "She just showed up, and so did the dog… I hope it didn't ruin the surprise."

"It didn't, I tried talking to my mother about it and she kept saying no," Lucas sighed as he reached out to grab Riley's hand. "She also kept yelling at me for being with you which is normal when it comes to my mother. She doesn't trust outsiders much, blame my ex-wife for that one. But I like you so that's all that matters, and from the looks of it so does Lili."

"Well I had food, and a dog so of course she likes me," Riley said shrugging. "But all that matters is that this doesn't stop you from coming over every once and a while… cause I kinda missed you the last couple of days."

"You can call me you know, maybe one day we could have lunch at my office and live out one of my fantasies," he said as he leaned down for a quick kiss. "That's a discussion for another day."

Riley felt her heart speed up at the thought of Lucas doing anything with her, even in a remotely public setting. She liked what his voice did to her, and now that she met Lili she knew he was a really kind and genuine person.

"If you need a babysitter during the mornings or afternoons I'm here for you, because it seems that your regulars are a little lax," she said trying to sound like he didn't affect her the way he did. "Maybe one day, but first I need to take care of my kid, and make sure she doesn't go blabbing to her grandmother about being here."

"Are you afraid of your mother?"

"Yes, she's scary," he said before walking towards the car and driving off with a final wave, as Liliana waved from the backseat.

"Come on Daisy, we need to go on Amazon and order you some stuff," Riley said walking back towards the house. Her brother had sent enough supplies for a few days but Riley knew she needed more if Lucas couldn't take Daisy right away.

* * *

When Lucas walked into his house he knew that his mother was there, Lili ran to her room and he felt jealous because he wouldn't be able to run from his mother like his daughter had. When his mother had shown up at his job earlier to yell at him Lucas had brushed her off, he had had a client with him so they couldn't have a conversation. His mother left telling him that she would be back so he did the only thing he could do to and that was work. His mother returned and started berating him about dating outsiders, and how Riley couldn't live up to the Friar name, and Lucas just took it. Now it seemed as though she was preparing for round two.

"Lucas Friar," she said her voice stern and full of determination. "Don't tell me you took your daughter to meet that woman. Liliana would get attached and what would happen when she left? I've never thought that you were that reckless."

"Mother stop," he said looking at the woman who had raised him and had been there for him all of his life. She had only become overprotective after his father had died, and of course after his ex-wife had ran off. "Listen, I am old enough to make my own decisions. Riley is a good woman, and I like getting to know her. I don't know where this relationship is going. It's new, but I do know that for once in your life can you please just butt out of my life."

"Lucas I care about you, I don't want you to make a mistake like last time."

"Last time wasn't a mistake mother, I took a chance and got burned, it happens, it's a part of life, people make mistakes. But do you know what wasn't a mistake?" He said staring his mother down. "That little girl wasn't a mistake, she's everything to me. Yes, I needed to get hurt but I still got the best part of that relationship and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world."

Lucas sighed as he walked deeper into the house and towards the kitchen, Riley wasn't a mistake and he knew that but he couldn't get too attached to her just yet. He felt something every time she smiled, every time she told him something or even talked about the weather and how it drove her crazy. It was still new, and he liked how it felt, but it was also something he couldn't explain to his mother at all because he was starting to believe that the legacy was more important than his happiness.

"Mom, I love you but for once just let me live my life the way I want to," he said his voice low but he knew she would hear him.

"Fine, but I don't want Liliana being involved with that woman," his mother said which only made him feel angry. He knew that Riley had formed some kind of connection to Lili and he wasn't going to take that away.

"No," he said to his mother before slamming his hands on the counter. "Lili wants to get to know Riley, and I'm not going to stop that. You can't keep making decisions for your grown son's life or the life of his child and you need to understand that."

His mother didn't say a word instead she walked out of the kitchen, it wasn't until the front door slammed shut that he felt the tension in his shoulders seep out.

Liliana walked into the kitchen and looked up at him. "I can see Riley and Daisy right?" she said her voice low, and he knew that she had heard everything.

"Lili, baby girl, you can still see them, but you're going to have to be extra good for your grandmother okay," he said as he pulled his daughter into a hug.

"Okay," she said holding on to him.

* * *

Riley was finishing up a chapter of her story, with Daisy curled up at her feet under the desk when she heard the doorbell ring. She knew it wasn't Lucas because he usually just walked in without question so she walked over to the door and saw an older woman standing there. Her hair was tied into a tight bun, and she was dressed in a button up shirt and a pencil skirt. It was out of place in the small Texas town for some reason, especially with the hot weather but it seemed as though it didn't faze the woman.

"Can I help you?" Riley asked as she opened the door.

"Yes I would like it if you would stop seeing my son," the woman said and Riley let go of the door as if it burned her.

The woman in front of her was Lucas' mother, and Riley knew that she had to steel herself up for the conversation she was about to have, even though she knew that her private life should be hers and no one else's.

"I don't think that my relationship with your son is any of your business, and I understand that you just want to look out for what's best for him, but feel free to yell at someone you don't even know just because I'm an outsider in your little corner of the world."

The woman looked her up and down before she spoke through the screen door. "What my son does is my business, I've seen him get his heartbroken before and I refuse to let it happen again. You don't belong here, in this town, you're not one of us."

"That shouldn't matter, you can't scare me off just because you don't like who your son is having a relationship with," Riley could feel her heart speed up as the thought of Lucas's mother acting as if she's superior would make Riley leave. "You don't know a thing about me and you're judging me, why don't you stop and think of your actions before they cost you your son."

Riley slammed the door in the woman's face, and tried to calm her breathing down before she had a panic attack from the confrontation. She couldn't believe that his mother would have the audacity of trying to run her out of town, as if she could control every aspect of her son's life, or a small part of Riley's.

She walked to the office and closed the door before sliding down to the floor, Daisy curled up in front of her and laid her head on Riley's lap. Somehow it soothed her mind after the brief confrontation and she realized that Daisy was comforting her. Riley pet the small dog wondering just how good her brother was at his job if Daisy knew when someone needed her. Riley didn't cry, instead she calmed herself before pulling out her phone and calling her mother to thank her for being who she was. All of a sudden she felt bad for Lucas, because his mother might have been controlling his relationships since his ex-wife, meaning that the reasons why they didn't work was because of his mother's involvement, and he probably didn't know about it.

"Having family involved in your life is hard Daisy," she said before standing up and going back to work. She knew she needed to talk to Lucas about it, but instead she decided to work instead and worry about it the next time she saw him.


	6. Chapter Six

**A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out, I have to write 2 papers and a presentation before Wednesday, and I've been swamped, I'm a grad student so papers are graded differently than undergrad. I do have ideas for the next chapter so I'm going to work on it while I attempt to work on my papers. The semester ends on Thursday so after that I'll be completely free to write to my hearts content.**

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

Lucas had shown up on her doorstep the next morning, Riley was sitting on the porch drinking her coffee trying to wake herself up. Even this early in the day the man looked like he could kill you with a smile, "Geez does he have to be so freaking hot," she muttered over her cup.

Her hair was in a messy bun on the top of her head and she wasn't in the mood for company after the impromptu meeting she had had the day before. But there he was in all of his glory, smiling like the four of July, as he walked towards her.

"Good morning," he said before kissing her on the cheek. "I thought we could talk about going on a picnic this afternoon, with me and Liliana who is completely in love with you by the way."

"That would be fine with me," Riley said looking up at him. "Would it be okay with your mother?" He gave her a strange look, but before he could say anything Riley spoke up, "Your mother paid me a visit yesterday, and said in no uncertain terms that she doesn't want me to see you anymore."

"I swear that woman is teetering on a fine line right now," he said sitting down on the chair beside Riley. "I don't understand why she's like this, she wasn't like this while I was growing up at all but now she's turning into this overprotective monster."

"Honestly I think your mother needs to get a life if she's trying to run yours this much right now," Riley sighed before drinking the rest of her coffee in on gulp. The hot liquid burned her throat but she didn't care she needed to be alert before the next unexpected person showed up.

That person turned out to be Missy, and she was smiling as she walked up the steps with a bridal magazine in her hands. Lucas hadn't had the chance to say anything else about his mother's visit, and even though Riley wanted to talk to him about it she also knew that it was a conversation that they were going to have to have without an audience present.

"Good morning you two," Missy said as she sat down in front of them. "We need to talk about somethings."

Riley groaned wondering what could possibly cause more stress in her life. "Please tell me it's about something good and not something that will ruin my day, or better yet my week, because I don't think I can handle any more stress."

"Well, it's a little of both," Missy said giving Riley a shy smile. "I don't have a lot of girlfriends, mainly because my daddy was always throwing me at Lucas when I was younger, so in the end I grew up with him as my best friend. Anyway, Riley can you help me plan my wedding?"

Riley smiled at Missy, "I would be happy to, I helped plan Maya and Josh's wedding and I love planning things like this."

Missy squealed and jumped up to hug Riley before sitting back down. "Thank you so so much, you have no idea how much this means to me, especially since I'm going to have to move fast with this wedding."

"Why?" Lucas said looking at Missy worried that something was going to happen.

"Well papa, and your mother got to talking yesterday," Missy started and Riley groaned before falling back into her chair. "And well they want to talk about setting us up again, and while papa didn't know I was listening in, the two of them were adamant that they try and get us married before the end of the summer, which is impossible since I'm already pregnant with Jake's child, but that also means that I have to move out before they can get any of their plans ready."

"But Jake doesn't have his own place, he's been living in the guest room above the office because he's been saving up for a place," Lucas said looking between Riley and Missy, Riley knew that he was think of something because his forehead always scrunched up. She had noticed it before whenever the topic of them came up but she didn't realize that it was such an easy tell.

"I have an idea," Riley said out loud trying to stop Lucas from over thinking everything. "This house has several extra bedrooms, and I wouldn't mind having a couple of roommates either because it's so quiet."

"Really," Missy said and Riley couldn't help but smile because Missy was beaming and radiant.

"Yes, as long as you and Jake take the room farthest away from me so that I don't you know hear you two doing anything."

"Oh Riley you're an angel, I swear heaven sent you here to save me," Missy hugged her tight and when she let go Riley was starting to regain her lungs. "Well that and to give Lucas here a run for his money. The town is buzzing about you two lately, some of the old biddies over at the salon were talking about it yesterday, how it's about time Lucas got his head out of his ass and found himself a nice girl."

"They don't talk like that Missy," Lucas said smiling.

"They like me? I thought everyone hated me," Riley said astonished.

Missy shook her head, "No they like you, some of the women on the fair committee have been talking about your books, and how accomplished you are. They wanted to talk to you about writing about the town, or using it as a part of the plot or something."

Riley hadn't thought about that at all, she was only writing a romance novel while she was in town, but now the thought of using the town as a basis for a novel sounded fantastic. "Maybe I can have some of them over for tea and we could talk about it."

"Okay, well I guess I should go home and pack somethings," Missy said standing up. "Gamma, should be at church all day, and papa is working so it would be the best time to run away from home."

"Talk to Jake into coming over," Lucas said as Missy started to walk away. "He could take the furniture from the guest room if you two need it."

"Thank you," Missy said smiling. "To the both of you."

When Missy was long go Riley turned to Lucas, she decided it was going to be a good day instead of a bad one. "About this picnic," she said smiling at him. "Daisy can come along, Lili would love that and I know it since that child fell in love with that dog the minute she was in front of her."

"So you're not mad about my mother?" he said looking into her eyes, she could feel her heart race but she knew that there was something more to whatever the two of them had.

"I can't say that I'm not mad at her, but I can push past it for now, eventually your mother will come to grips with you dating someone she doesn't approve of," Riley sighed, she knew that she would have to have a real conversation with Lucas's mother, but for now she just wanted to enjoy the moment. "Now about this picnic, if it's okay with you can we have it over there near the river."

Riley liked how the wildflowers grew on the property even more the thought of lazing about in the sun near the river where the cool air from the river would keep her from sweating to death. She knew Daisy would love it and Lili would play around there, almost like a little family.

"That's fine with me, I'll bring lunch you bring your pretty self," Lucas said standing up and quickly placing a kiss on her lips. "I'll come back this afternoon, after I talk with Jake."

"Go," she said smiling. "I have work to do and apparently a town to research."

"We'll talk about that later, I don't know how I feel about this town becoming a book, it might bring some unsavory people, like tourist and antique shoppers."

Riley laughed as he walked away smiling, she felt lighter than she had been before and she liked it. It was a freeing feeling.

* * *

Lucas left Riley's house feeling conflicted about his life, his mother was actively trying to sabotage his relationship with Riley even though the two of them barely knew one another. He really liked Riley and wanted to get to know her better. All the while he couldn't get the fact that his own mother was going after Riley, or even making moves to get him married off against his will. He knew that he needed to talk to her, without yelling at her, but he couldn't do it without being angry. Missy was in a relationship and in love with Jake, but their families are determined to ruin the one good thing that Missy had going for her.

He needed to talk to Jake the minute he got to the office and get him squared away with moving into Riley's by the end of the day. He also needed to put together a picnic and tell his daughter that they would be spending the day together. But most of all he needed to have a sit down conversation with his mother about why she was acting as though he couldn't control his own life. He was nearing thirty years old, he's been running the business for years and he's been raising Liliana the entire time with little help from anyone. Why couldn't he have Riley as well? He could already tell that she was a hard worker, and after reading her books, both literary and romance, he realized that she was a fantastic writer. She was beautiful and sharp, and although slightly clumsy at times he didn't mind as long as he was there to catch her.

When he sat down on his office chair he felt drained and he'd only been awake for a few hours. Lucas ran his hands through his hair as he heard a squeal and the sound of his daughter running towards his office. Pushing his thoughts away he pushed his chair back and as Liliana ran towards him and threw herself in his arms.

"Why didn't I get to go to camp today daddy?" Lili said smiling.

"Well we're going to pick up some food and have a picnic," he smiled at her. "A picnic with Riley and Daisy."

Liliana jumped off of him and started squealing and jumping all over his office, he knew how much Riley meant to him, but now he wanted Lili to have that connection with her as well. Even if it's for a little while he wants to show both of them how much they mean to him.

"Okay my little princess, can you go get ready and we'll leave after I have a conversation with Jake," he said thinking about all of the things they had to do, and instead deciding that they all needed a day off. The animals were being taken care of, and if anyone needed him they could call him. Liliana scream out an okay before running from the room.

"Make sure you have some extra clothes in your backpack," he yelled as he heard his daughter run out the door. The office was on the same property as the main house so he knew she was going to run to her room at full speed. He always made sure that she had extra clothes mainly because she had the tendency to fall and get dirty everywhere.

As he worked on whatever he had that needed his direct attention Jake walked into the room smiling. "So I should probably thank you for how happy Missy is right now?"

"Don't thank me, you should thank Riley, she's an angel," Lucas said looking up at the man who he's worked with for so many years. Jake was someone he trusted, and he would do anything for those he considered family.

"I have to pack, is there anything you need from me?" Jake said and Lucas couldn't help but smile himself, happiness was contagious.

"Take the bed with you and whatever you need, I'm going to leave that room clear and make it into a daycare for the other workers anyway," he had been thinking about building a daycare for some of his workers, many of them were also single fathers and mothers, but those who were still married had spouses who worked all over the place and nowhere to put their kids.

"Finally, I was waiting until you kicked me out to see if you would do that," Jake said sitting down in front of him. "But who's gonna run it?"

"You're hinting at something and I'm guessing it has to do with Missy," Lucas said.

"Well Missy and Vanessa are both looking into building a daycare, but if you're willing to accept more than just the worker's kids we could actually build something good here."

"Fine, but I'm going to miss my office if we do that, it's so nice and quiet in here sometimes," he said smiling. "Maybe I'll build one near the stables so that I can have the animals closer since I'm the vet on top of being the boss."

Jake laughed at him and Lucas couldn't help but laugh with him, "Dude you've been wanting to move your office closer to where the animals are for years, now you have the chance and you can even set up that summer riding program you've wanted but haven't had the chance to start."

"Not yet, for next year maybe but not for this year."

"One step at a time," Jake said before standing up. "I'm going to pack and put everything on the truck, by the way I'm borrowing the truck for the day."

Lucas waved him away, "Do what you need to, and I'll help you when you get to Riley's."

"You're a saint," Jake said walking out the door.

Yet in his mind after reading one of Riley's novels he felt like he wanted to be more of a sinner with her, but since today was a family day those thoughts had to stay in the back of his mind. He finished off the last of the paperwork and went to check with one of the ranch hands before walking towards the main house. He needed to put together the food and make sure that Liliana had extra clothes in case she got dirty from climbing a tree or even playing with the dog. He felt himself smiling at the thought of just having a lazy afternoon with Riley and Liliana, even if he helped Jake every once and a while. It felt normal to him, as if it was what he has been missing for so long.

As he stepped into his house he didn't hear anything, Liliana would have been running around like crazy at the thought of going out, but there were no sounds. He went looking for his daughter and came face to face with his mother sitting in the living room, Liliana dressed in a flowery dress and her Sunday shoes.

"Lili, go upstairs please," he said knowing what was about to happen. He was going to have that talk with his mother sooner than he wanted to. "While you're up there please change into something you can run around in and make sure you pack a spare set of clothes."

"Okay daddy," she said standing up and walking as slow as possible. His little girl was missing and all that was there was the daughter his mother wanted him to have. It irritated him, he wanted his daughter to be free to express herself, but his mother wanted a proper southern girl who went to ballet and cotillion.

"Mother," he said his voice laced with anger. "If you want to explain why my daughter was dressed like that when I had made plans to take her out please tell me. And don't try anything stupid."

"Lucas, is that how you talk to your mother," she said.

"That's how I talk to my mother when she's being irrational," he said knowing where this was going.

"I only want what's best for you Lucas, it's all I've ever wanted, and Missy is a better match for you, one hundred times better than this outsider."

"What about what I want, or better yet what about what Missy wants mother, did you ever think of that?" he said running a hand through his hair. "Did you know that Missy is dating someone, a person she loves more than anything. Did you know that they want to get married and that they want to start a family? Did you think to ask if I want to be with her at all? Or how I see her more like a sister than as a romantic acquaintance?"

His mother didn't say a word and just stood there, he knew that he would have to drive the point home into her head and he thanked his father for making him want to fight for what he wants. "Mother did you ever think beyond what was best for me and think about how I can be my own person?"

"Lucas," she started and he knew that she hadn't listened to a word he had just said. "When your father died I vowed to make sure that you didn't have a hard time with it, I wanted to make sure that you still got everything you wanted, but when that woman came and tried to use you to get what she wanted and then broke your heart I knew I couldn't leave you to do things yourself."

"My life is my own mother, I need to make mistakes that's how life is, I can't live in a world every everything is calculated to every degree, it would only bring mistakes."

"If you won't listen to me at least think of Liliana, she doesn't deserve to be in the middle of this, she needs a stable family life and structure. She needs to learn to become a proper young lady."

Lucas put his hand up to stop her and shook his head. "Wasn't it enough that I worked myself to the bone to get this company into the twenty-first century? Wasn't it enough that I raised my little girl while I was at it?"

"Lucas," she started again but he stood in front of her because he didn't want Liliana to be able to hear what he was about to say.

"Mother, I love you, but if you don't butt out of my life, and my daughter's life, you're going to lose us both. Liliana can be whoever she wants to be, she can climb trees and play in the mud if she wants. I will not subject her to becoming someone she doesn't want to be, I want her to learn to be her own person. As for me, if you keep coming after me, or even Riley you will not see me again. I hold the controlling shares of the company and I have enough to buy you and all of the other board members out. I don't care, what you think about this."

His mother didn't say a word instead she turned around and walked out the door, he knew that she wanted to cry but Friar's don't cry in front of anyone. He had worked hard since his father died, everyone he worked with loved what he did and raising horses wasn't an easy job, but he also worked on several other projects including a resort not too far from town that gained huge business. He wasn't above threatening his own mother at this point if it meant that the company wouldn't suffer from her involvement in his personal life.

* * *

Riley sat in her office wondering if what she had said to Missy earlier in the day was fine, it wasn't her house, it actually belonged to the family. But like her father she had this need to help everyone when they needed it. She decided to call her mother and maybe get her permission, because although Josh is the one who takes care of the house it really belongs to her mother's family. The phone rang twice before her mother picked up and just hearing her say hello from the other side of the line made her happy.

"Hi baby girl," her mother said.

"Hi mom, how's New York?" Riley said but in reality she didn't miss the big city for the first time. It was strange how living in Texas had given her a new lease on her old life and she didn't mind it so much.

"Nothing to worry about," her mother said but Riley knew that something had happened. Her mother always said that when something was wrong, she had said it after Auggie had been shot at his first month on the force, or when Elliot had been in an accident during high school

"Mom what's wrong?"

She heard her mother sigh from the other side of the phone before she spoke again. "It's Evan sweetheart, he's gone missing."

Riley could feel her lungs constrict, the thought of Evan being out there somewhere, she felt like her whole world was slowly turning black. She couldn't breathe, the sound of the phone falling onto the ground didn't faze her. She kept trying to suck in some air but it wasn't coming in, there were spots in her vision. That's when the flashbacks started, the memories weren't complete, they never were.

Evan standing over her smiling, but his eyes were dark. The first time he hit her, and how she slammed against the counter and blacked out. The moment she tried to walk away from him, to get away from him and he pushed her down the stairs. The feeling of his hands as he slowly shoved her. The memories were all over the place, but all of all sudden things she never thought happened started playing in her head, an argument in the car, his hands around her throat, the car crashing.

"Riley," she heard someone say from somewhere faraway. But she didn't know who and the moment they touched her she her whole body jerked and she pushed herself back into a corner.

Far off voices kept talking but Riley couldn't hear it over the sound of screaming, it took her a minute to realize that the one that was screaming was her.

Lucas stepped out of his car, Liliana was jumping out of the back seat when he heard Riley scream. "Lili stay here sweetheart, don't leave the car alone," he said pushing her back into the backseat. "Stay here."

He rushed inside as he saw Missy, along with Jake and Riley's uncle Josh and his wife Maya standing at the door. He had seen Josh and Maya before, but they've never had a conversation longer than hellos.

"Riley," Josh said trying to walk closer in through the office door, but all Lucas could hear was the strangled cries of Riley. Without thinking he pushed pass everyone and walked in through the door, gathering Riley in his arms. Everyone else stayed quiet for a moment not knowing what to do, but Lucas could only think of Riley.

"Riley," Lucas said in a soft voice. "I'm here," he said hoping that his voice would get through to her but she kept clawing at his arms, hyperventilating like she couldn't get enough air. He rocked her back and forth, leaving small kisses on her head. "You're okay, you're safe."

He knew that something had triggered this, and the only thing he could think about was something to do with her ex, and he just wanted to kill the man for causing her to break down like that. After a few minutes she calmed down in his arms, crying into his chest, still trying to breathe, but she wasn't screaming anymore which he thought was a good thing.

"Missy can you check on Lili," Lucas said while he rubbed Riley's back. "I left her in the car because I thought something was wrong."

Missy nodded before walking out of the room, Jake followed her soon after giving Lucas a sad look. This wasn't how he expected the two of them to meet, but he hoped that Jake's good hearted nature would see that Riley was a good person, who just had a terrible past. When he was alone with Maya and Josh he looked up to them realizing that they may know the reason why Riley was having a panic attack.

"I realize we haven't met yet, and my relationship with Riley is fairly new but I need to know what happened to make her freak out like this," he said holding Riley closer to his chest, hoping that she could hear the sound of his heart beating and use it as an anchor.

The couple looked at him for a moment and then at each other before Josh spoke, "Riley was on the phone with her mother, and Topanga told her that her ex had gone missing."

Lucas looked up at the sheriff shocked, he couldn't figure out how to fix this, but he knew that he needed Riley to be alright. They were getting closer and he didn't want to lose her to the memory of the ex who tried to ruin her life. She deserved to be happy. It took him a minute to realize that Riley had passed out in his arms, but he didn't let go or make to stand up either.

"Her mother called me the moment Riley dropped the phone," Josh said while holding his wife's hand.

"Other than you and your family who else knows that Riley is here?" Lucas asked, while in his mind he was thinking of a million different ways to protect Riley.

"Just her parents, siblings, and my brother and his girlfriend," Maya said looking a Riley with a sad face." We all agreed when Riley decided to come down here that no one really knew where she was.

"Do you know what exactly happened with Riley and her ex?" Josh asked him giving him a stern look.

Nodding at him he heard Maya gasp. "She's doesn't tell a lot of people about it, I know only because I was at the hospital the day she woke up, her memories are jumbled so she doesn't remember a lot, but the last time she remembers the most."

Lucas couldn't help but look directly at Maya as though she had grown a third head. "What do you mean her memories are jumbled?"

"Josh can you get me some water," she said to her husband, it wasn't a request, it was a demand which meant that not even Josh knew all of the details of Riley's past relationship.

When Josh walked out Maya sat down on the couch and rubbed her belly. "I wouldn't tell you this if I didn't know how much Riley likes you. I know from living in this town that you're a good man, and although I don't know you personally, if Riley had told you about the hospital then she trusts you."

"She also told me about the baby," he said as Maya's eyes widened.

"She never told her mother about that, it was on the reports but she made sure that no one in her family would be allowed to access the files."

"Why would she hide that part?" he asked curious as to why Riley would keep that away from her parents.

"Evan's family was really powerful, and if it got out that the baby had died they would have blamed Riley and not Evan, they weren't the best of people, and at the time Riley's little brother was at the police academy so they would have found a way to damage his career before it happened. Evan's father was some high level commissioner."

"Is there something that Riley doesn't remember?" Lucas asked, knowing that this story would only get worse.

"Yes," Maya sighed. "She lost her memory of the last six months of their relationship, before she got pregnant. Apparently he had been abusing her during that time, and when she threated to go to the police he tried to kill her in the car. I didn't find out until the day she had lost the baby, when the nurses were talking about how Riley was a frequent patient."

Lucas felt his world tilt a little, but he didn't say anything, instead he held Riley like she was the most precious person in the world. "She's the kindest person you could ever meet, she wants everyone to have the best in the world without taking much herself," Maya said to him. "She's always looking for the best in people, but he was just that one person who couldn't be saved, and in the end it nearly cost her everything including her own life."

He sighed, looking at Riley's resting face. "The day I met her I swear I felt something, a spark, like I had been empty inside but the moment she fell into my arms the whole filled me up with so much hope."

"She has that effect on everyone, she writes romance novels on the side because she wants everyone to have that love she always knew was out there. She writes because she wants everyone to have someone out there who would give themselves wholly to another person. Those novels are an extension of everything she's ever wanted in a relationship, well minus all of the smut, but I think that she just wants to be loved for who she is and not controlled because of her kind nature."

Lucas smiled at Maya as she stood up, "I'm going to stay here today if that's alright with you."

"Yes, we were only going to have a picnic, so Riley could get to know my daughter a little more, and they were going to play with Daisy and just have fun," he said but he felt his throat tighten while he held her.

"When she wakes up just tell her how you feel and have that picnic, I'll make some extra food and we can all just get to know each other," Maya gave him a small smile. "I have a feeling, from this moment alone, that you and Riley are meant for more than a summer fling. The way she talks about you, I see a light in her that I haven't seen since we were kids and she sang about her prince coming and saving her. I think she's found something in you that she never thought she'd find in her entire life."

When she was finished Maya walked out of the room, Lucas knew that she was also keeping everyone else from coming inside because Josh never came back. For the first time since he had gotten there he felt tears fall from his eyes. He knew that Riley probably wouldn't like him crying over her past, but he also knew that they were two broken pieces being put together and maybe they could fill in the holes in each other's hearts. He didn't want to be ruled by his past and he was going to make sure that Riley's wouldn't either.


	7. Chapter Seven

**A/N: After the drama from the last chapter, some clarity for our couple!**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

When Riley woke up she felt warm which was weird, since the last thing she remembered was sitting in her office which had an air conditioner. Her head hurt, there was a steady pounding at the back of her head, she didn't want to open her eyes but the heat was getting to her. When she opened her eyes she came face to face with bright green eyes, and Lucas smiling down at her. All of a sudden she remembered the phone call with her mother, and a handful of memories she couldn't remember from the car accident she had been in when she was still with Evan. She didn't know what to think, he had taken advantage of the fact that she had lost her memory in order for them to stay together, she wouldn't have had gone through the second accident if she hadn't lost her memories in the first place. She was leaving him, they got into a fight because she was driving to her parents' house to talk to her mother the accident had happened on the exit of the highway. She shuddered at the memory, and decided to try and push it away but the thought that Evan was missing and somewhere out there to come after her made her fear for her life. He had gone after her before and she didn't know if she would survive the fallout this time around.

Lucas didn't say a word, and she knew that he was being patient with her and waiting for her to make the first move. He was a kind man, and very sweet to her, she hadn't realized it before but she was falling for him but she was still afraid that her past relationship would come back and haunt her. Or taint what she had with Lucas at that moment. She pushed the thoughts away and decided that she was going to live in that moment instead of having the past ruin it. She needed to move forward, she needed to let go and hopefully Evan will turn up somewhere far far away from her. She wasn't going to let the memory of one bad relationship ruin the possibility of being happy for once in her life.

She smiled at Lucas, before saying anything "Hi."

"Hi yourself," he said before kissing her forehead.

"How long was I out for?"

"About twenty minutes, Liliana is with Missy and Jake, they're using her as practice. Maya and Josh went out to get some supplies for the picnic, and we decided to have a movie night as well," he pulled her close and kissed her again. "Josh told me part of what happened, and Maya told me the rest. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but know that I'm here whenever you need me."

"Thank you," she whispered to him and pulled herself closer to him, tears in her eyes. She didn't want to cry but the fact that he was giving her an option to talk, or even comforting her without asking for anything in return felt freeing. "One day we can talk about it, but for now I think I just want to have some fun and forget about it for a little while longer. It feels too fresh in my mind even though it happened a long time ago."

"That's fine by me," he said as he hugged her closer. "Why don't you go upstairs freshen up, and we'll sit down and eat, and later we'll set up the projector on the side of the house and watch some movies."

Riley pulled herself away from his warm embrace and stood next to him, she leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before walking towards the door. "Set up outside and I'll be there in ten minutes, I'm just going to wash up and meet you outside."

"Okay," he said before walking out of the room.

Riley felt happy, especially because Lucas was so understanding. But as she walked to her room so she could change, the dread of the memories that were slowly resurfacing made her feel chaotic. There were flashes of memories, trips to the hospital, but none of it made any sense to her. She remembered the accident and the fight but everything else was in pieces, and thinking about it made her head hurt. She didn't know if she should cry or if she should be relieved that she had been able to move on from all of that. Except Evan was now missing from New York, and even though no one knew where she was, she knew that he would somehow find her.

Lucas walked outside and saw his daughter playing in the front yard with Jake and Daisy, the little girl was so happy running around with the dog, he wanted to smile and be happy too. But the fear of what was happening with Riley kept creeping back up, it was mostly fear for her and what her ex was capable of. Missy walked out with a tray of lemonade setting it down on the table Riley was always at in the mornings.

"I don't know what's going on with Riley," Missy said as she poured the drink into the cups. "I don't know how bad it was or is for her, but I do know that she doesn't deserve any of it."

Lucas sighed turning away from the scene in front of him and looking over at Missy, he's known her all of his life, she really was more like a sister to him and he knew that her words would comfort him. "Just say what you need to say, I know you have some words of wisdom in there somewhere."

"Well," she smiled at him. "I see the way you two look at each other Luc, and even though I don't know anything about her past I do know that her future is right here with you."

He couldn't help but smile, Missy always had a way with reading people and he was glad for it, "Thanks Missy," he said as he took a glass from her.

"So I'm going to change the topic now," she said smiling. "At least to something a little lighter that way we can make Riley feel more comfortable when she gets down here… Anyway. What is this about a daycare center at the ranch?"

"Ah, so Jake told you?"

"Yes, and you know I have a degree in childhood education so would it be possible… well for me to help out with this?"

"Missy I'm pretty sure you're great and all but I think you need someone helping you with this if you do it, so if you ask Vanessa the two of you can work out the details," he said smiling as Missy started bouncing up and down hugging him.

"Am I missing something here?" Riley's voice said as she walked out onto the porch. "Last time I check your pregnant and I'm pretty sure bouncing like that isn't good for the baby."

Missy started laughing before hugging Riley too, Lucas saw the surprised look on Riley's face and couldn't help but smile at her. In the short time she had been in his small town more and more people have come to love her. He hoped that she knew that, because he was falling for her as well and wanted to make it work with Riley.

"Okay, you two break it up," Maya said as she walked up the steps with Josh's help. "Lucas go help Josh, he brought some stuff for barbeque because it would be easier than a picnic, and we brought one of inflatable pools because it's freaking hot as hades here."

"Will do," Lucas said kissing Riley on the forehead before walking away.

He watched the three women sit down around the table as his daughter played with Daisy, Jake had walked over to help them grab everything from the car. As they stood at the back of the car Josh gave Lucas a look which made him feel uncomfortable.

"Say what you have to say Josh," Lucas said as they unloaded everything.

Josh sighed before standing up straight. "Here's a fast little shovel talk, don't hurt Riley, she deserves all the happiness in the world, I don't blame her for her ex, he was an asshole but Riley wants to see the best in everyone no matter what. I wish I had been there to protect her but I wasn't and in the end I regret it. She's my family, she's blood and I need to make sure that she's safe no matter what."

"I understand, and although I've talked to Riley about some things, and I don't fully understand anything because she hasn't told me everything, I do know that in my heart I'm falling for her and I will make sure that she's safe no matter what," he said before extending his hand for the older man to shake.

"Good talk boys good talk," Jake said as he put his arms around the two of them. "Let's make our own little family, because I don't have a family and I need one."

"Alright Jake we'll be your family," Josh said smiling. "Plus it's high time I get to know my neighbors better than I have since I came down here."

Riley watched them men laughing as they set up and instead of staying with Missy and Maya as they talked weddings and babies, Riley went to see Liliana who was playing with Daisy near the side of the house. She was carrying some lemonade for the little blonde girl who squealed as Daisy chased after her.

"Hi," the little girl squealed at Riley as she rushed from Daisy.

"Hi Liliana, how has your day been?" Riley asked hoping for some light conversation, smiling while Daisy rushed towards them.

Liliana stood in front of her with a giant toothy grin. "Everything is wonderful, better than it was earlier today."

Riley felt herself tense up not knowing what the little girl heard or saw of what had happened to her. "And what was that?" she said trying to sound as normal as she could.

"Grandma and Daddy were fighting, I don't think she likes you, but I like you so it doesn't matter," Liliana said smiling. "Daddy said that I should trust my instincts because they're never wrong."

Riley felt her tension ease before realizing the other dilemma in her life, but Liliana's words brought her some kind of warm comfort. If she liked her then nothing else mattered, which meant that Lucas wouldn't walk away from her.

"I guess you have to listen to your dad, because your feelings are just as important as hers, trust your heart and you will go far," Riley said bringing Liliana closer to her and hugging her. The little girl smelled like sunshine, and she wondered how it was possible but it was soothing. "Anyway your daddy said that we're going to watch movies, and have a picnic, but now we're having a barbecue and we're going to play in a pool that my Uncle Josh brought over. So I hope you brought your bathing suit."

"Yes I did, daddy also says to be prepared no matter what, especially when it's hot."

"Okay, then let's go inside and you can help me pick out which one of the two I brought with me to wear," Riley said smiling, a little girl time was something she wouldn't mind at that moment.

The two of them went into the house, waving at the guys as they set up in the far corner of the yard, Missy and Maya were now looking over wedding magazine's that Missy had brought with her. Riley realized that those two would be good friends, and friends was something that Riley needed more and more. She hadn't realized just how much of her life had been isolated before she had met Lucas, and now she felt like she was slowly coming out of that protected brick house that she had built in the time since the accident.

When they reached her room Liliana jumped on the bed as Daisy sat in front of her as they both waited for Riley to pull out her swimsuits from the drawers. She laid them down side by side, one of them was red with ruffles, the other one was white and blue stripes. They looked at them for a long moment before Liliana looked up at her and pointed at the white and blue two-piece.

"They match daddy's eyes," she said with a grin. "He would like it."

"Would he now, and why does this feel like you're trying to set me up?"

"I'm not, I like you and daddy really likes you so I've made up my mind that I'm going to make sure that you become a part of our family."

"And what role would I play in your family? Would I be aunt Riley?"

The little girl blushed for a moment before looking up at her, "I would like it if you became my mommy Riley."

At that moment Riley knew in her heart that she would never be able to let go of this little angel in front of her. It was the greatest approval of her relationship with Lucas and she hadn't known that she needed it until those words had come out of Liliana.

"That's up to your dad and me, but if you can keep this a secret, well I would like to someday be that for you."

"I won't tell daddy, or grandma, I don't understand why she doesn't like you but she'll come around one day I promise."

"I hope so too," Riley felt herself choke up but instead focused her attention at the task at hand. "Go grab your suit and I'll get changed and we can go fill up the pool."

"Okay," Liliana said as she jumped off the bed and rushed towards the door Daisy not far behind her.

Riley got ready, thinking about this short amount of time that they had had together, but how much of an impact it had on healing her heart. Maybe she needed to go through all of the pain to find herself in this moment. Maybe for her and Lucas this little moment in time was what they needed to get to away from the bad things that had held them back and be able to move forward. She smiled at the thought that her life had changed for the better, and wasn't going to let anything that had happened in the past ruin the future she had right in front of her.

Once ready the two girls went to set up the pool together, dragging the water hose over from the side of the wall and putting it in the pool so it could fill up. The guys had finished a batch of burgers in the meantime and they all sat down to eat on the porch laughing and smiling while Maya and Josh told them stories. Zay and Vanessa joined them as they set up for the movie, and while Riley still couldn't understand the man, she liked Vanessa enough to tolerate Zay's flirty attitude. When the sun went down she got up and grilled some kebabs as Lucas put out blankets and drinks by the side of the house.

Riley sat with Liliana and Lucas, as all the couples sat down next to their significant others and watched the credits roll on the movie, they had picked a Disney movie because Liliana was with them but choose a classic over any of the current movies, watching The Little Mermaid, Zay sang along and when the song kiss the girl came on he started goading Lucas to kiss Riley and she felt her face flush as he gave her a quick kiss in front of everyone they knew. Their two worlds were coming together and it was perfect.

Around eleven they put everything away as Maya and Josh took one of the guest rooms, Zay and Vanessa said their goodbyes, and Missy and Jake made their way into their new home. Lucas grabbed Liliana and put her in the room closest to Riley's and tucked her in before closing the door and turning to her.

"You don't have to stay," Riley said to him but he shook his head.

"I want to stay," he said pulling her close. "We don't have to do anything, I'm so exhausted that I would just be happy cuddling and sleeping."

"We need to have another talk don't we?"

"At some point yes, but it doesn't matter right now."

"Okay," she said quietly as he came closer to her and pulled her into his arms. She wanted to cry she wanted to do something, the day had been nothing but a bunch of ups and downs all at once. She didn't know if she should be happy or irritated, or even sad.

"Come on let's go to bed," he said looking around, she knew that he was nervous, so was she but they couldn't do much with his daughter in the next room so she pulled him towards her room and walked over to the dresser to pull out some clothes.

"Do you have any… um… spare clothes?" she asked him, all of a sudden feeling shy around him.

"Yeah I'll go grab them," he said before walking out of the room.

Riley rushed into the bathroom to take a quick shower and brush her teeth, she couldn't figure out why she was nervous about anything, but the deeper their feelings got the more she didn't want anything to go wrong. By the time she was finished she just wanted to fall asleep, so she walked out of the bathroom in her oversized shirt and her shorts and climbed into bed. Lucas had walked into the room as she climbed in and excused himself to go to the bathroom, returning soon after to climb into bed with her.

"Will Liliana be okay in the room without an a/c?" she asked him feeling her eyes start to flutter.

"She'll be alright, I put the fan that was in the living room next to her, she's used to this heat remember," he said pressing up next to her.

"Okay," she said as she drifted off in his arms.

Lucas felt something kick him, and the feeling of being too warm all of a sudden, when he opened his eyes he saw the faint purple skies over the horizon, and the feeling of happiness as he realized he had Riley next to him. He wanted to cuddle back into her warmth but she kicked him again and murmured something before she started fighting against what was haunting her dreams. He didn't know if he should wake her up because she was having a nightmare, so instead he pulled her close to him and started kissing her on the head.

"You're with me Riley," he said to her. "You're safe, and you're in Texas, far far away from whatever is happening. You're safe here with me and I won't let anyone or anything hurt you."

Riley started to calm down as he kept telling her that she was safe until he saw her bright brown eyes looking back at him. "Thank you," she whispered before turning into his chest and burrowing her way into his chest.

He pulled her closer and rubbed her back to reassure her even more, when she looked back up at him she smiled before she pulled his face down for a kiss. He knew that she was seeking comfort and he knew that he didn't want their first official time to happen because of a nightmare but she started to rub herself up against him.

"Riley," he said trying to sound as if his voice wasn't leaving him. "Sweetheart, I was planning on our first time to happen after dinner, or some kind of date, I don't want to do it like this…. But you're trying my patience here."

"We don't have to do anything at all," she said to him before smiling. "We could cuddle and make out like normal people do."

"Is that what they do?"

"Yes," she said smiling. "At this point I'll be happy with you in my arms. Plus, with Liliana so close… as well as everyone else I'm happy with just something so normal."

"I can do normal," he said claiming her lips again pulling her closer to him. He loved how she tasted, how she smelled, he could drown in Riley and he would be happy either way.

Riley slowly put her hands under his shirt and ran her hands all over his stomach before pulling away. "You know I kept thinking that these were fake, every time I was anywhere near you and I felt how hard your abs were I swore they were forged by my brain telling me that you were too hot to be real, but man I'm glad they're real."

She started pulling up his shirt until he tore it off of his head and pulled her closer and kissed her again. She groaned in his mouth as she felt the heat off of his body, his how body was standing at attention just for her and he didn't care. He wanted to just savor the moment, that was until she slipped her hand down his boxers and he pulled back from her lips and groaned before he could take her hand away from the more sensitive part of himself at that moment.

"Lucas," she said looking up at him. "I want to repay you for what you did before."

"Riley," he said but it sounded more like a whisper as she rubbed herself on him. "You don't have to do anything, remember just cuddling and making out."

"Yeah but now that I'm so close I want to," she smiled at him.

"Only touching, please," he said his voice was hoarse, she was having the strangest effect on him to the point where he would give her the world just to let her do whatever she wanted.

"We'll kiss why I give you the best hand job you've ever had."

"Don't worry honey, at this point all you would have to do is touch me and I'll go off."

"Really," she said before she pushed pass the elastic of his boxers and touched him. He had to do everything in his power to not scream in relief since his daughter was in the next room. "I'll help you out and when we have our so called date, I'll tie you to the bed and have my way with you."

"Riley, are you a secretly into something I need to know about?"

"Nope," she said popping the p, before she kissed him. "Just something I wanted to try one day… you know… for research purposes," she whispered in his ear as she ran her hand down his length.

The first thing he did was pull her lips to his and let her do whatever she wanted for research purposes if it meant that she would stay that close to him at all times. She squeezed him and he groaned into her mouth, he ran his hands over the bottom of her shirt pulling it up just to feel her skin, as she explored him like she was creating a map of his body for her mind. Lucas pulled away from her and gasped as he felt himself going over the edge, Riley nibbled below his jaw and smiled against his cheek.

"Now we're even for the porch thing," she said as his skin buzzed from his orgasm.

"We will never be even for any of this, not until I've had my fill and even then I would want to keep going," he said pulling her closer to him knowing that he should probably clean up instead he just wanted to keep her close as long as possible.

"Well when we finally have that moment, I think we'll be too crazy from touch each other to actually savor it, so I say we have a repeat performance."

Lucas looked at Riley and saw nothing but happiness in her eyes, "This is something I can agree on."


	8. Chapter Eight

**A/N: So in the middle of writing this, I wrote the first chapter of the Superhero AU that I'm working on, except I keep going back and adding things, so that chapter is already at 8,000 right now. I'm trying to finish this story to go full into that one but I've been slacking and my last paper isn't finished and my brain doesn't want to write it even though I have to.**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

"I need to shower," Lucas said slowly pulling away from Riley. She didn't want him to leave and tried to pull him back into the bed but he pulled away. "I have to take care of some things Riley, but I'll be back."

When he left to go into the bathroom Riley couldn't help but groan at the loss, Lucas was such a caring person, but he was also sexy as hell and she liked that too. He made her feel so happy, that maybe everything in the world is trying to right itself just because everything had gone to hell for so long. She stared at the ceiling watching the streaks of sun slowly coming in painting the room in purple and rose. She heard the shower running in the next room and thought that it wouldn't hurt to join him, or at least watch because she wasn't going to be able to go back to bed anytime soon. And while she normally used the time to write, she would rather be in the shower with Lucas.

Riley slipped out of the bed nearly tripping over the bed sheets as she got up, and made her way into the bathroom. She tried to be as quiet as possible as she stepped inside, seeing Lucas's outline on the shower curtain as he stood under the water made her lose her breath. She didn't know that a guy could be breathtakingly beautiful, but that was because she had never met Lucas Friar until now. She leaned against the sink and just watched him from the other side of the curtain.

"You know if you're going to watch me you might as well join me," he said making her laugh.

"How did you know I was here," she said smiling.

"There was a breeze when you opened the door, I may have my back turned but I can still feel the cold air from the air conditioner."

Riley wanted to laugh but instead she took off her clothes and walked into the shower to join Lucas instead, when the heat of the shower hit her she shivered, she had never done this with anyone else but it sent a thrill through her body. Lucas turned around stunned when he felt her and she couldn't help but smile. They hadn't seen each other fully naked before, everything they've done they've been clothed or in some state of undress. Now they were seeing one another fully for the first time and she couldn't help how her heart was trying to jump out of her chest.

"We don't have to have sex," she blurted out. "But I thought we could shower together."

"To save on water," he said breathlessly. "Yeah that would be the reason why."

"Yeah," she said so low she didn't know if it had come out.

Lucas quickly grabbed her and pulled her close making Riley slip a little on the tub and land directly on his chest. She could feel the hardness of his muscles and the fast beat of his heart, and it only made her fall for him a little more. Her breath hitched just before he bent his head to kiss her hard on her mouth. Groaning into the taste of his lips and her toothpaste she opened up to allow him to deepen the kiss. His tongue explored her mouth in the same way his hands explored her body, when he pulled away she nearly cried at the loss, but he smiled and kissed the side of her neck sending goosebumps down her body.

"As much as I would really love to continue this," he said in her ear. "I really do need to go to the ranch early today, but I'll be back by lunchtime so that you, me, and Liliana could have the afternoon together."

"I would like that a lot," she said as she helped him wash up.

* * *

After their early morning make out session, that turned into something else entirely Lucas left Liliana at Riley's so he could check on something on the ranch, it was still early in the day but he needed to make sure that the ranch could run without him for the day. Once he finished up he went to his house to grab some extra clothing for Liliana and himself so that they could stay with Riley a little longer. He didn't want to leave her alone for too long because of how everything went the day before. She wouldn't admit it but she wanted him nearby and he was happy to oblige with that, to him she was a strong and beautiful woman, but her fears were there right now for all the world to see.

As he walked through his house he saw the light on in his home office and went to turn it off, thinking he had left it on the day before. Instead he came face to face with his mother sitting on the small leather couch that had once belonged to his father, she was looking through an old photo album when he walked in through the door.

"I don't want to fight Lucas," his mother said to him. "I came to a realization after our fight and realized that you are your own man. I'm afraid of losing you because I already lost your father, but also because by letting you go I would somehow lose him again."

Lucas signed and walked over to the couch and kneeled down in front of his mother. "I understand that you're afraid, I'm scared of these feelings I have for Riley because I've never felt anything like them before, but I also know that if I didn't take this chance with her and explore whatever it is that we have, well I'll regret it for the rest of my life."

She smiled at him and took his hand. "I felt the same way about your father when I met him," she wiped a tear from her face and tightened her hold on his hands. "He was my soulmate Lucas, and even though he's gone I see him in you, I was afraid that if you fell for anyone who wasn't from our little corner of the world… well I was scared that you would leave and I'd never see you again."

"I'm not going anywhere mom," he said pulling her into a hug. "I think Riley knows that too because she's trying to find a place for herself here," he stopped himself for a moment not knowing if it was his place to say anything, but he wanted to make his mother understand Riley. "She's a strong person, who was saddled with the wrong person in her life but she survived and she was led here, to me, and I want to know how far we can go together. I understand if you don't like her, but you need to get to know her better before you pass judgement."

"I know."

"How about this," he said pulling away. "Come over to Riley's with me, Liliana is there right now, we'll have lunch together and you can get to know her a little more."

"I would like that, maybe I'll get to know my granddaughter better as well," she said to him while giving him a small smile. "I know she acts differently with you than she does with me, and that's her right but I guess in the end I have to learn that she's her own person."

"Why don't you go home and change into something more comfortable, and I'll meet you at Riley's," he said standing up and helping his mother to her feet. She nodded at him and walked out the door, Lucas couldn't help but sigh thinking of what was going to happen but he knew that it was inevitable because he wanted his mother to be close without the rift that seemed to be forming.

He finished his work and drove to the hardware store and grabbed the central air unit that Riley needed to replace to make the house more comfortable. It was still early in the day so he drove to the market to pick up somethings for them to eat outside while he installed the unit. He wanted his mother to get to know Riley the same way he was, he wanted her to know the strong person that was there as well as the writer.

* * *

Riley was making breakfast as everyone started making their way down to the kitchen, she was humming and smiling thinking about Lucas and their morning. It was a good morning and one that she was happy to have had, and she wanted to have a lot more like them. She fed everyone waffles and juice while she danced around the kitchen feeding Daisy some of her food. Liliana joined her and they danced together as the rest of the group ate and talked. Maya and Josh left soon after breakfast because of an appointment with the doctor. Missy went along with them so she could get her checkups straighten out, Jake went out to the ranch to work.

"What should we do today?" Liliana asked when everyone was gone.

Riley smiled and looked at her. "How about makeovers, I'll paint your toes each a different color and you can braid my hair, and when Lucas gets back we can have that picnic we were supposed to have yesterday."

"Yay," Liliana squealed jumping up and down.

The two of them gathered all of the make-up that Riley had brought with her when she came down to Texas. They were sitting on the porch as Riley painted Liliana's nails, so when the car pulled up and Riley realized that it wasn't Lucas she felt herself stiffen. She saw his mother getting out of the car carrying a small bag with her, Riley didn't know what to do because this was Liliana's grandmother and she didn't want the woman to attack her in front of the young girl. Instead she stood by her car wearing a summer dress and sandals, as she debated whether or not she was going to walk towards them.

"Lili, can you give me a moment to talk to your grandmother?" Riley said standing up. The little girl smiled and nodded before continuing on painting the rest of her nails. Riley walked over to the woman, who she still didn't know the name of because the only times they've talked it was during an argument over Lucas.

"Lucas asked me to come here," she said when Riley reached her. "I came to start over from the beginning, I may have judged you too harshly, but you have to understand I'm afraid of my son and granddaughter being hurt by someone they come to care about."

Riley sighed, she knew that the woman in front of her was trying to make an effort which was something big considering their past encounter, and the way Lucas and his mother have been fighting.

"My name is Riley Matthews," she said holding out her hand. "I'm an author, and I make a good living that way, I have feelings for your son and I don't want him to be hurt either."

The older woman smiled and took her hand. "I'm Lila Friar, I am Lucas's mother and Liliana's grandmother, I'm a little headstrong and I should probably run for public office with how I act in front of you."

"That would be an interesting choice of career for you," Riley smiled before bringing her in for a hug. "Thank you for trying."

"Well my son has taught me that sometimes I maybe a little head headed, but he gets that from me so be wary when it comes to something he really wants. Now," she said clasping her hands together. "Where's that granddaughter of mine."

"She's painting her toe nails over there," Riley smiled. "We were giving one another makeovers if you would like to join us until Lucas gets back."

"That would be wonderful," she said as she walked along with Riley towards the house. Lila gave Liliana a kiss and a hug, while Riley went inside to grab something for them to drink while they sat outside.

She couldn't help but smile as she heard Liliana talk to her grandmother about the colors on her toes, and why they looked the way they did. Something told her that they normally didn't interact the way they were at that moment, but she hoped that it would bring them all closer together. When she walked out she was Lucas driving up towards the house, so she set the pitcher down and walked towards him.

"Hey there," she said as she hugged him. "So you asked your mother to give me a chance?"

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the forehead. "No I asked her to give us a chance."

"That works too," Riley said before looking at what was in the back of the car.

"It's the until you need to replace for the central air."

"You are a freaking god," she said before bringing him down for a quick kiss.

"I'll go install it, go hang out with my mother and Liliana," he said pulling away and waving at his mother and daughter who were watching the two of them. Liliana with a giant grin on her face, making Riley blush for the public display.

She walked back towards the porch to serve the lemonade and sit down while the other two just smiled at her.

"I've never seen my son so happy," Lila said smiling at Riley. "Thank you."

"Yeah thank you Riley," Liliana said giving her a giant toothy grin.

"Anyway," Riley said trying to hid the fact that her face flushed red. "Let's get to work on these makeovers."

The three of them worked on their nails and their hair, after a while Liliana went to play with Daisy, and Lila helped Riley put together the picnic they were going to have. It was a simple task but Riley felt nervous the entire time because she was standing with Lucas's mother in the house alone and she didn't know what to say.

Lila broke the silence first, "Tell me something about yourself," she said making Riley jump.

"Well I was born in New York, I'm the middle child of my family," she started just saying the quick facts about her life. "I have an older brother, his name is Elliot he works in California in some fancy Resturant, my younger brother trains police dogs for the NYPD, his name is August but we call him Auggie. Um… my father is a teacher in New York, and my mother is one of the city's top attorneys."

"I always wished that Lucas had siblings," Lila smiled sadly at her. "It's nice that you have them."

"Sometimes it was, other times not really. It's hard being the only girl and being stuck in the middle between the two of them. Can I ask why you never had any other children?"

Lila sighed as if it were something she didn't like to think about, Riley was about to say something but Lila spoke first, "There were complications when Lucas was born, I nearly died on the table along with him, afterwards they said that it would be a miracle if I conceived again."

"Sorry about that," Riley said thinking back to her own life. "Lucas is a great person so I can understand why you're so protective of him." Lila nodded, but the talk left the room somber and quiet, before Riley could stop herself she decided to be upfront with Lila, "I want to have kids one day," she sighed. "I almost had a child but something happened, a bad relationship… um… it was a violent relationship, and it cost me the baby," the confession made Lila look up at Riley quickly. "I can still have more kids in the future… Lucas… Lucas is the first relationship I've allowed myself since I lost the baby two years ago."

"I'm sorry," she said to Riley before pulling her into a hug. "I misjudged this whole situation I know I have but in a way I'm glad I did or else you wouldn't be this open with me now."

"Well I hope this means that we can get to know one another better, and if it would make you feel better why don't we have lunch once a week, you, me, and Liliana."

"That would be nice, I've always wanted to teach her to bake, but I signed her up for a million things, I guess I could cut back on some of them, and we can have a real relationship."

"That would be really nice," Riley smiled, as rocky as their relationship had been this was a good start to something new.

After their picnic, Lucas drove his mother and Liliana home, along with Daisy who was going to spend the night with them. Riley couldn't help but think about the strides she had gone through from one afternoon but it was nice to have a turn in the relationship. Missy and Maya had gotten back just as the three of them were driving off, Josh had a shift at the station so Maya decided to help Missy set up her appointment schedule but as soon as they walked into the house they stood by Riley.

"What happened?" Maya asked pulling Riley away from the sink.

"That was Lila Friar right," Missy said grabbing Riley's other hand.

"Yes, we talked… a lot," Riley smiled. "We had lunch together and I guess we've had a chance of heart."

"Did you defrost the ice queen?" Missy said her eyes wide. "I never thought that it would happen, she's been critical of all of Lucas's relationships."

"Lucas talked to her, and we talked afterwards that's all that happened," Riley said somehow defending her afternoon, and Lucas's mother. "Wait did you call her the ice queen?"

"Yes," Missy said pulling Riley towards the couch in the living room "Now tell me what you did so that I can have Jake do the same thing with my dad."

"Missy, I don't think it works like that," Maya said rubbing her belly. "Plus from what I've heard about your dad I'm pretty sure that no one would be good enough for you, even if they were the last man on earth."

"I know but I need him to walk me down the aisle when I get married," Missy huffed out. "I don't know why he's so hell bent on family legacy."

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you're his only child," Riley said almost as an afterthought. "My dad is super overprotective of me but I'm the only girl."

"Ain't that the truth, the man could rival most overprotective fathers, I mean he faked a heart attack before her first school dance," Maya said laughing. "I'm lucky that my dad, or step-dad were nothing like that."

The three of them laughed over their fathers, but Riley did hope that Missy would be able to find a way to deal with her father. She left the two of them in the living room and went off to the office, since Lucas installed the central air unit the house felt cooler and she didn't have to turn on her air conditioner. She started working on the novel she had been working on, using some of what she did with Lucas earlier that day as a starting point. She had gotten an idea about the next scene in the novel, but it was only because she wanted to have an excuse to do it on Lucas.

Opening up a webpage she went on an adult website and looked at the cuffs they had, she wondered if he would be okay with being tied up. The thought of having him tied up to her bed made her blush even though she was alone, she saw a number of things on the website before settling on a massage oil kit, and silk ties. She also decided to take the time to plan a bachelorette party for Missy and ended ordering all kinds of things from the website, using them as a front towards what she was ordering for herself. When the order was finished she quickly erased her web history so that if anyone went on her computer they wouldn't see what she had been looking at.

 _Why is it more embarrassing to order it and think of using it when I'm alone, but if I say it to Lucas I feel empowered_ , she thought to herself, as her face flushed. She pushed the thoughts aside and went back to work.


	9. Chapter Nine

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this up, I'm trying to write a novel in two months while writing this and the Superhero AU that I'm writing, which is a lot of work but the novel is a priority because I want to get it published and my notes are all over the place right now. I am going to finish this fic by the end of the month, that's my promise. The Superhero AU on the other hand is probably going to be a really long fic considering the chapters have been over 7K every time.**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine**

Riley hadn't told Lucas about what she had ordered, and since she started working on her draft, even she forgot that she had ordered them. Her editor had called her twice since and she had been working ever since, the date for her novel had been pushed up since the moment she had mentioned the idea. The publishers wanted her to work on it as soon as she could because her books were becoming huge sellers all of a sudden. The pressure was on so she decided on the small town story, using the Texas town as a backdrop.

"Do you know if the historical society would let me borrow some research materials?" she had asked Lucas that night while he was walking her home from the farmer's market.

"Maybe, depends on what you need them for," he said holding her hand while carrying a bag in the other. "Are you thinking about what I think you're thinking of doing?"

"Missy asked me to try and write a fiction book based on this town and I figured I could try it, but I don't want to get anything wrong, mostly the lore behind the town, so I thought that it would be a good idea to learn more about the town."

He didn't say anything for a moment but he was smiling at her, which only made her blush. "You like it here don't you?" he asked as he pulled her closer.

"I do like it here, but I also like writing as close to the truth as I can before I make up the characters that would live in the story, now answer my question bucko," she said smiling at him.

"Ask my mom to take you, the historical society loves her."

"Thank you," she said before pulling him down for a quick kiss on the lips. "You're very helpful when you want to be."

"I'm helpful 100% of the time, now let's get back and cook dinner, I want to show you how domesticated I am from being a father."

Riley laughed, she couldn't help it the man had been showing her how domesticated he was, but most of the time it was because Liliana was in the house playing with Daisy. They couldn't do anything else, so they were only left with quick kisses, and promises of having a date that wasn't interrupted by the million people coming in and out of her house at all times.

For the first time that night they were going to be free of family duty, Liliana was sleeping over at her grandmother's house Daisy went along with them, Jake and Missy were going on a date, and Lucas made sure that none of their other friends were going to disturb them, so Riley was happy that they had decided on a movie night, and dinner in the living room. It was normal and quiet, which is something that neither one of them had had since their make out in the shower. It was also something she hadn't done in a long time, which just made her happy.

The two of the were grinning at one another when they walked into the house, Lucas went into the kitchen to start on dinner, while Riley went to check on her emails from her publisher to see when they would want the first draft ready.

"Hey," Missy said walking into the office. "We're about to head out, but I wanted to tell you that you got a package earlier, I left it in the living room."

"Thanks Missy," Riley said looking up and seeing the other woman dressed in a flowy red dress with white flats on. It hid her growing baby bump very well. "You look great, knock him dead Miss."

"That's the plan, we're going to stay at Jakes old apartment tonight, you know for one last night, so we won't be back," Missy said winking at Riley. "So you and Lucas have the house all to yourselves."

Riley blushed, but smiled anyway, it was becoming the perfect night. "Well you two enjoy yourselves."

"Sure, and Riley," she said standing at the doorway. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do…. Wait scratch that, do everything you want to do," she said with a wink before walking out.

Riley laughed as she followed Missy out, "Well at least I know…. Oh god," she said as she saw the box and remembered what she had ordered.

"What?" Missy said looking back.

"It's nothing, it's probably just my editor sending me things to do or something," she said hoping that it was covering up the lie, because it was actually the stuff she had ordered.

"Don't work too hard then, you have a guy in your kitchen wearing really tight pants cooking for you."

"Oh haha, now go on your date and leave us alone."

"Roger that," Missy said as she walked out the door. Riley closed the door behind Missy and walked back to the living room, picking up the box and rush it off to her room. To the closet in her room because she didn't want Lucas, or anyone to find it.

She wanted to talk to him about what she had planned before doing anything about it, she needed to have that talk with him, but for now she actually wanted something more vanilla. It wasn't that she hadn't been excited at the prospect of doing something that could be depraved in anyway, but sometimes the first time needed to be special, and she wanted to feel special especially since meeting Lucas she has had to face the fears of her past. Even the ones she hadn't remembered for a long time.

Lucas heard the door close behind him as Missy left, they finally had the house to themselves and he wanted the night to be special. So when he heard Riley go upstairs, he decided to set the table with some candles and flowers he had snuck in while she had been in her office. They were getting closer to each other and he was happy about that, so he wanted to use the dinner to get to know her a little more. Also he wanted to set the mood for the rest of the night because he wanted her to feel special.

Zay had convinced him to cook, Lucas had gotten better as a cook since having Liliana, but he had never cooked for a date and although him and Riley had been eating together a lot, their meals were always simple because Liliana, or someone else was around. Now he was making parmesan risotto with roasted shrimp, with a garden salad, and his mother's raspberry soufflé that he had learned when he was in high school. It was one of the things he had been grateful to his mother about, the love of cooking, his dream had always been to work on the ranch but he knew just how much it meant to cook for someone you loved.

His relationship with his mother had improved greatly since the picnic, another thing he was happy about. Riley was something else, she was good with people even when they hate her without reason. It made him question the things that her ex had done because the Riley he knew was a kind person, but that could have also been her trying to save him. She was too good for someone like him and he wished that he had met her long before anything had happened to her.

A gasp from behind reminded him of the Riley he had with him now, someone who needed to have surprises and happiness in her life. Lucas turned around to see the awestruck look on her face, and a bright smile lighting up his world. This is what he wanted, this is who he wanted. In that moment he knew that she had truly had taken his heart, and he was willingly giving it to her.

"It's beautiful Lucas, but you didn't have to go this far," she said walking towards him and taking his hand.

The flowers had been spread thoughout the table, the candles were lit and in the center of it all were their plates of food, and his heart.

"For you Riley I would give you the world if you would let me," he said smiling. She leaned towards him and pulled him down for a kiss.

At first they ate in silence, Riley smiling up at him every once and a while, she had been so obsessed with the food that she kept eating it before saying anything. Once the plates were cleared she looked up at him as he brought out the dessert.

"We better not be sharing that," she said eying the treat in front of her.

"No, I made two," he said grinning at her.

"You are the perfect man," she said as he placed it in front of her, and poured a light syrup over the top of the treat. "Seriously Lucas this is amazing, I can't cook like this to save my life but this is all restaurant quality. The most complicated thing that I can do is roast beef, which is hard for me."

"Don't worry Riley, I learned to cook because of moments like this, I want to make something special for someone I care about."

Riley ate her dessert without saying anything back, but Lucas could see the blush on her face as she tried to hide it from him. Once they were finished and everything was in the dishwasher the two of them stood in the kitchen. Lucas pulled Riley close to him and held her close, taking in the feel of her heart pounding in her chest. Before either one could say anything he lifted her chin and leaned down for a soft kiss. It was supposed to be quick, they were going to watch a movie and just relax, but once he felt the softness of her lips he couldn't help but want to have her close to him.

"Lucas," she said when he pulled away to get some air into his lungs. "Let's go upstairs," she murmured and that's all that it took for him to lift her up and carry her to her room.

He tripped on the carpet in front of her bed causing them to tumble down onto the mattress, but it didn't matter as long as they were together. Fevered kisses, as their tongues met and he felt the heat of her mouth. He knew at that moment that the feeling he was having would never go away, this was a once in a lifetime thing and he didn't care if he drowned in it as long as Riley was there to anchor him to the real world.

He felt her hands frantically pulling up his shirt, the need to feel his skin against her hands. He let her have the control because he didn't know how long he would have lasted if he didn't have her touching him like that. It was something that was growing inside of him, the feeling that her touch would give him everything he had ever wanted from someone. He wanted her to have total control over his heart, he took her hand and placed it over his fast beating heart.

"I'm in love with you Riley," he whispered as he pulled away from her lips and met her eyes. "You make me feel something that I have never thought I would feel, and I wanted you to know that."

She smiled at him for a moment before moving towards him and kissing his lips again, when she pulled away and met his green eyes, her face was full of love. "I love you too," she said to him.

That was all that it took for their fevered kisses to become something incredibly intense. Their clothes were ripped off without any care for them until all that was under him was Riley, as he leaned over her and kissed her slowly. He pulled away from her lips and moved towards the side of her neck, kissing her slowly, nipping at her collarbone and smiling when she shivered under him.

"So beautiful," he said, but he knew that he wouldn't last long, not with her so close to him.

His hands were everywhere at once, feeling the silkiness of her skin, the heat of her body, and the beat of her heart. This was what he had always wanted, and he knew it was something this would keep him going for the rest of his days.

"Lucas," she said her voice barely above a whisper. "Make love to me please."

That's all he needed to hear as he pulled out a condom from his pants and pulled it on. They would have a day when they would be able to go slower but in that moment all he wanted was to be as close as he could without thinking about anything else, and if he didn't last very long he didn't care, in the end they would be able to make up for it in other ways.

* * *

Lucas couldn't keep grinning as he worked on moving the things from his office to the one that was in the barn. He had made love to Riley, several times that night, but he was also very much in love with her and the grin would have to stay forever. It had taken him the whole day to move everything, especially since it had taken him the whole morning to pry himself away from Riley but he wasn't complaining.

Riley had a meeting with the committee for the festival, as well as lunch with his mother to discuss the book she wanted to write about the town. Lucas on the other hand had to work on moving everything in the office and helping the contractor on what they needed to do to make the building ready for the daycare center.

"You know if you keep smiling like that I'm going to have to kill you," Zay said as he walked into the new office. "Why are you smiling like that anyway?"

"Nothing, just had a good date last night," Lucas answered his best friend. "Why are you here anyway, Vanessa told me you were working today."

"I have a lunch break you know, and I decided to visit you because you've been spending so much time with a particular brunette that I haven't seen you in forever."

"Sorry, I guess we need to schedule a guy's night don't we."

"Well," Zay said as he plopped down on the couch. "I figured it would happen eventually, you've been single for too long. I remember I did the same thing when I started dating Vanessa so I guess this is payback time for that."

"I guess it is," he said smiling. "By the way, thanks for the advice on the whole cooking dinner because she loved it. So I owe you for that."

"Nah, plus now we can go on a double date, or a quadruple date because of Missy and Jake, and Maya and Josh. You see while you've been having fun with a certain brunette, I've been hanging out with the two other couples, and well I guess it also gave me some perspective and well I asked Vanessa to marry me."

"No shit, well it's about damn time you two have been circling around each other since grade school, congrats man," he said pulling his best friend into a hug.

"You're going to be the best man at the wedding, but then again we might just go to Vegas and elope."

"Vanessa would kill you if you tried to pull that one."

"Yeah I know, she wants a big wedding, so I talked her into doubling with Missy and Jake for the end of the summer, that way we don't have to wait that long. It's one of the reasons why I've been hanging out with the other couples. Now we just have to drag you and Riley into it."

"No thank you, Riley and I have other plans, plus she's in the middle of writing a book, plus the festival at the end of the summer, and she's doing a book signing there, and we're getting comfortable with each other. So you guys can plan your own wedding."

"Fine," Zay sighed. "Whatever man, leave me to the wolves."

"Zay the girls are harmless, plus you love this kind of stuff so don't try to guilt me into helping you out. The only thing I can give you guys is the ranch grounds for the wedding, because I own the place and can do what I want."

"That's fine by me," he said smiling at him and that's how Lucas knew that his friend had just conned him into giving him a venue that normally cost a couple of grand for free.

* * *

The week went by relatively normal for Riley considering how everything kept happening all at once and she couldn't control anything. It was a nice change, she liked the craziness that was constantly happening because it gave her ideas for her stories. But it also gave her ideas for that small town novel that she had been talking to Lucas about, in what felt like another time. Riley had two meetings with the festival committee, as well as lunch with Lucas's mom and Liliana. It felt as though her life in the small Texas town was righting itself and giving her the break she wanted all along. So of course the moment she began to get comfortable everything would turn on its side, as an older gentleman banged on her front door screaming.

"Can I help you sir?" she asked walking towards the screen door.

The man huffed for a moment before grumbling something she couldn't hear before he spoke up again. "Yeah, you can call my daughter to come here so I can take her home."

"Ah," she said as she pulled out her phone and sent a message to Missy, as well as Lucas and Jake. Riley didn't want to deal with another bout of family drama especially when it wasn't directed towards her, at least she hoped it wasn't.

"It you would like I could get you something to drink, some water maybe," she said being polite but more because it was over a hundred degrees outside and the man was sweating profusely. But he grunted again and walked off towards his car and sat on the side of the car waiting.

Riley pulled her phone out again to call Lucas but instead watched the man sitting there thinking of why he was acting the way he did. His protective nature reminded her of her father, and although her dad had lightened up as she grew older it seems as though what Missy had done was hurting him. Even when his own actions were hurting her. Riley watched him for a moment, thinking about why he would want Missy to be with something that she didn't really have feelings for. It dawned on her that he was trying to give his daughter something that he had missed out on himself.

"Everything in the town really does center around the Friar's doesn't it," she said out loud as the revelation hit her.

She walked outside and towards the disgruntled man, "Your daughter tells me that you want her to marry Lucas, but I get the feeling that you're somehow projecting your own expectations on her," she said. He huffed and tried to turn away from her. "You should ask her yourself, maybe you would get your wish."

"What the hell are you talking about?" the older man said.

Riley was hoping that she was right about this, or else she was about to blow everything out of proportion and anger the man even more. "You're in love with Lila, and because you couldn't have her you thought that the next best thing was to get your daughter to marry her son, because at least that way you would be able to get close to her."

The man stood there in silent shock, his hand trembling a bit as Riley spoke to him. "It's the reason you keep going to her about me not being good enough for her son, you're looking for an excuse to talk to her, to be near her."

"I fell in love with Lila the moment I met her, it was the day that she was marrying my best friend, and I thought that she the most beautiful creature in the world. I was there when she had Lucas, I was there through everything. My own wife, though I loved her wasn't who I had wanted. Now years later, decades later, we're both single, but I can't bring myself to be with her because I'm afraid that she wouldn't like me in the same manner."

"There's no harm in trying, and if it doesn't work out it means that you tried and learned the truth, but you can't keep hurting your own child because of your unresolved feelings."

He gave Riley a small smile, and she knew that she had gotten through to him in some way. Riley stepped closer to him trying to get a better read on his face, she needed to know what the man was thinking so that she could stop this matchmaking madness.

"You're a very perceptive person for someone that wasn't born in this town," he said.

"Well I'm a writer I have to know people, plus you remind me of my dad in a way, well not in the I'm in love with my best friend and will ruin my daughter's life to stay near her kind of way. My dad married the love of his life, but he was also very protective of me growing up, I was the only girl in the family."

"Well I guess we could go inside and have that drink then, I might as well get to know the person who saved my daughter from me," he said as he pulled out a small handkerchief and started blotting his forehead.

"Missy is in love with someone you know that right?" Riley said once they had settled in the kitchen.

"I didn't know that, she doesn't talk to me about her love life which is probably how this whole thing got blown out of proportion," he sighed looking down at the glass as if it would give him the answers to his life. "I guess I should get to know my own daughter better."

"Let's start this from the beginning then," Riley said holding out her hand. "Hi my name is Riley Matthews, I'm an author, and I came down here to Texas to refresh my mind and write something amazing. I met your daughter after meeting Lucas, and think that she's a good person who loves her family but is also in love with something very much."

"Hi Riley, I'm Devon Bradford, I'm Missy's father, and I would like to get to know my daughter more as well as he friends if that's alright with you."

Riley smiled and him and knew that he wanted to make an effort. "Wait your last name is Bradford? I though Mrs. Jones was your mother?"

"She is, my mother remarried after my father passed away, she took my step-father's name, but I kept my father's name."

"Ah, okay that makes sense," she smiled.

The two of them talked until Missy showed up at the door stunned at the fact that her father was sitting in the kitchen drinking lemonade with Riley.

"Dad what are you doing here?" she said confused.

"I just wanted to see where my daughter was living, and talking to Riley about you and how you love someone that I never knew about because I was too stubborn to admit my own feelings and ended up projecting them onto you," he said standing up to meet his daughter. "Missy I'm sorry, and I would like to start over."

"I was right you are an angel Riley," Missy said smiling before pulling her father into a hug.

"I'll just leave you two here to talk while I get back to work," Riley said smiling as she went to the office and closed the door. "Well time to get back to work."


	10. Chapter Ten

**A/N: I have a running joke on Tumblr about whether I'm going to run someone over with a truck in this story... you know who it is...**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten**

Lucas was at his house for the first time in what felt like a million years, ever since he started dating Riley, and after the incident from weeks before, he had spent nearly every moment that he could next to her. Liliana was always there in the yard playing with Daisy, always giggling and running around. Even his mother had taken time to go over to the house and had lunch with Riley, even family dinners with them. So now that he was in his own house it felt foreign to him but only because Riley wasn't there smiling at him talking to him about the book she was writing with the town as the backdrop.

Walking into his home office he thought only about how Riley would probably like it better there, with her things and her books. He wanted her to live in his house, write in the office he rarely used. They had only known one another for nearly two months but he wanted to have her around for the rest of his life. A small tug on his jeans pulled him from his thoughts as he looked down to see his daughter with a smile on her face.

"Can we invite Riley over tonight?" Liliana asked smiling up at him. "I want to show her my room, and my horse too."

"That would be great, but how about we spend the rest of the day together, and we can go pick her up afterwards," he smiled at his daughter.

"Okay," she was beaming at him.

"We can also pick out what to make for dinner at the market, it's been a while since we went to the market."

"What are we going to make for Riley?"

"How about we grill today, since it's a nice day out and we can play in the pool too," he said thinking that he hadn't gone food shopping in a while and the refrigerator was probably empty at the moment.

"Daddy," Liliana said in a low voice that he almost missed it.

"Yeah sweetheart."

"Can Riley… um… well…"

"Lili use your words," he said smiling knowing that his daughter was trying to say something because she would stutter or pause a lot before she changed her mind and left.

"Well is Riley going to be my mommy?" she finally said her face turning pink as she blushed.

He knew that the question was coming, especially since he spent so much time with Riley, but it was also the same question he had been asking himself. "Well Lili, if she would have us as her family, I would love for her to be your mother."

Liliana nodded and gave him a small smile before she walked off towards her room. Lucas sent Riley a quick message about having dinner over at his house, and telling her to bring a swimsuit and a spare set of clothes. When she agreed, he told her to be there around three because it would give him time to go shopping with Liliana. Giving one last look to the office before he closed the door he couldn't help but think of the possibility of Riley being his wife, and maybe having his child as well. A brother for Liliana, or a sister, or both. In the end a future with Riley was starting to form in his mind,

" _She would be a great mother_ ," he said to himself.

He also thought about how Riley would react to being a mother, and most likely it involved writing an entire set of children's books to read to the kids. That thought made him smile because the way she talked about her books made her smile at him wide and that's when he thought about the kinds of books she would write.

"Daddy lets go," Liliana said as she appeared in front of him dressed in her shorts and sneakers. Her shirt was buttoned up wrong and she hadn't noticed. Lucas walked up to her and rebuttoned her shirt smiling at his daughter.

"So what does the princess want for dinner tonight?" he said as he finished.

"I want chicken, or steak," she said pulling him out of the house.

"How about I make both and you can pick afterwards," he knew that she would pick the chicken if there was macaroni and cheese, the steak if they had mashed potatoes.

The two of them went to the market holding hands, Liliana stood on the cart and held on as Lucas pushed it around picking up what they needed. Liliana talked about school starting again soon, and camp, and the friends she made. She talks about Daisy and how she wants the dog to live with them and sleep on her bed. Together they filled the cart with enough food to feed an army but it was alright with him because he knew that most likely people were going to be stopping by at all hours regardless.

Riley pulled into the house just as they started unloading the groceries, Daisy jumping out the backseat which only made Liliana squeal and run off with the dog leaving him with a mountain of groceries.

"Hi," Riley said before kissing him on the lips. "Need some help there?"

He laughed for a moment and nodded his head. "My helper ran off with the dog."'

"Yeah well I know her weakness, plus it gives us a chance to talk about something, and you could give me a tour of the house since I've never been here in the two months we've known one another."

"Yeah well that is probably my fault, I got too comfortable going to your house," he smiled at her before giving her another kiss. "Let's get these bags into the house and put away the food, I'll give you a tour while we talk about what you want to talk about."

Liliana was running towards the backyard with Daisy not far behind, Lucas knew that she was probably headed towards her treehouse in the backyard. Very soon he was going to have to build a staircase for that treehouse just for the dog to climb.

It took them twenty minutes to put everything away, but it gave Riley a moment to marvel at how beautiful the kitchen was. The walls were warm colors matching the countertops and the sleek appliances. Lucas wrapped his arms around her waist as he put the bread on the counter next to her.

"You know you're the first woman who has actually come into this kitchen, well other than my mother," he said in her ear.

"Are you okay with that?" she asked him smiling.

"Maybe," he answered smiling back before he turned her around and placed his hands on the counter behind her. "Maybe I'm thinking about having my way with you right here on the counter, if it wasn't for the fact that my kid was playing outside."

"I'll wear a dress next time," she whispered in his ear. "You know for easy access and so that no one would know the wiser."

She was getting braver when it came to saying these things to him, but she wouldn't act on half of them because she wasn't very brave when it came to doing anything like that in public.

"So I brought something with me," she said after a moment just to keep them fully clothed, but in the end it probably would do the opposite. "Well I have this idea, and I want to run it by you."

"Riley at this point you could say that you wanted pour chocolate sauce over me and lick me clean and I would say yes," he said with confidence in his voice.

"That would be something to try," she smiled. "Anyway, I was thinking something more in the bedroom, when Liliana is asleep and won't hear us at all."

"Whatever you want I'll do it, only if we do try the chocolate thing."

"Well I got these silk ties and I was thinking of well tying you to the bed, but I haven't seen your bed so I don't know if that would work… well anyway."

"My bed doesn't have bars of any kind so probably not in the way you were thinking… but now I have thoughts of my own."

"Well we could always figure something else out when the time comes."

"I'm buying a new bed," he said before taking a deep breath. "One with something I can use to tie you to it, or for you to tie me to it."

Riley knew that if they didn't stop talking that they would have to explain sex to his daughter very soon, but they stayed there looking at one another not touching, she ached for his touch so badly. Her phone rang bringing her out of her rampant thoughts about Lucas and a four poster bed, wondering if her would buy one of those canopy beds just so they could close the curtains and shut out the world. It took four rings before she could bring herself to answer the call.

"Hello," she said her voice low and hoarse as she said it. "This is Riley."

"Riles, it's Charlie," her best friend's voice came over the speaker bringing her out of her haze while Lucas was trying to keep her there by nuzzling into her neck.

"What do you need Charlie, I'm kind of busy here," she said irritated at being interrupted.

"Well I was working today and an article came over the AP wire about you and I thought I should give you the heads up," he said bringing Riley out of her Lucas induced stupor and bringing her back to the present. "Because it was published on several news sources in the last ten minutes."

"What's the article about Charlie?" she said pushing Lucas away.

"Someone blabbed about you," he said and Riley could tell he was worried about it because it meant that someone who knew about her life had told the world about her. "It's about you and Evan, about you being a romance author on top of your regular writings, it's about the miscarriage. Riley they're not naming a source, but they also wrote about where you are right now."

"Riley what's going on?" Lucas said as she slowly collapsed onto the floor.

Years of working to be recognized at a legitimate author, without the stigma of her romance novels. Years of keeping her private life out of the papers, even though she wrote for a magazine to pass the time. Her mother's career already put them in the limelight, Riley was a popular author as well. Everything was now out in the open.

"I need to get to a computer," she said looking at Lucas's worried face.

"What happened?"

"Everything apparently," she sighed leaning into his chest. "Charlie I'll call you back later."

"Good luck Riles," Charlie said from the other side of the phone before she hung up.

"Why is it that when everything seems to be settling down in my life there's something throwing a wrench at it," she said looking up into Lucas's worried eyes. "Computer now please."

"Okay," he said not pushing which only made her feel lighter.

"That was Charlie," she said wanting to be nothing but truthful with Lucas. "Apparently someone is airing my secrets out for the world to see."

"Which secrets?" he asked a worried look on his face.

"All of them, the romance novels, the miscarriage, my ex, and who knows what else. The only problem is that the only people who know have signed non-disclosure agreements, thanks to my mother and anyone connected to me through the publishing house as well as my agent."

"I haven't signed it," he said but Riley shook her head.

"I trust you to not say a word, and outside of Maya and Josh no one else down here knows about it, only thirty or so people know about everything that had happened to me, and they've all signed it in some way. This includes my ex and his family."

"What happens if they violate it and expose your life?"

"A multimillion dollar lawsuit. My mother is a terror when it comes to her children so she put all kinds of clauses into the paperwork, there's no way out of it even if they went to the press with anonymity whoever they talked to would have to expose the person."

"What if it's someone who hadn't signed, like they used a proxy person to go in between the order."

"My mother covered it," Riley said sighing. "She's very through, especially since she's a high profile lawyer, so she protects her children with every inch of the law."

Lucas sat her down in front of his office computer and signed her into the system, he understood that Riley's life was different from his. The women running the fair have been asked for permission from the press to attend, they set up a ticket system for Riley because so many people have inquired about her signing. So far they've sold nearly a thousand tickets for two days, and the number had been growing as they added days for the fair. The nearby hotels and Inns were booked. There was no way for Riley to get out of this, and now with this exposure it seemed as though something else was brewing in the background. His phone rang in his pocket, when he looked down he saw that it was Josh calling, which could only mean that this had already gone beyond what they had expected.

"Hey man what's going on?" Lucas said walking out of the room to give Riley a chance to field whatever she needed on his computer.

"Hey is Riley there?" Josh said from the other side.

"Yeah, we were going to have dinner here and she was going to play with Liliana and Daisy in the pool," he said thinking that their plans had been ruined.

"Good," Josh said sighing on the other side of the phone. "Listen most likely you know what's happening so it's good that she's not listen down here so they don't know she's staying in town. But she might have to stay there a while longer if it's alright with you."

"Yeah that's fine, I have a gate on the house which you need a code for, but what's happening on your end?"

"Her mother called me to warn me that the press is trying to find her, it's going to get crazy around here for a while until she makes a statement, especially if they know where she is, but the moment it's leaked we might have bigger problems headed our way."

Lucas thought for a moment about the bigger problem and her ex came to mind, the guy had been missing for weeks. "We might need to go to the house and pick up some of her stuff, or you can send Maya to do it with Missy," he said planning on how to keep her safe in his house.

"Already on it, Maya went over there the moment it hit the news, she has an alert on her phone for Riley related news, which I thought had been weird but considering how fast this escalated I'm grateful for their weird little friendship…Lucas," Josh said on the other line. "Keep her safe, she's already been through enough."

"Don't worry too much, the people in town love her, and we protect our own here," he said thinking about how the town had warmed up to Riley just like his mother had. "We'll keep her safe."

"Thanks man," he said before hanging up.

As soon as he hung up with Josh his front door swung open, his mother walking into the house wearing a summer dress that made her look different than the woman he had known for the last few years since his father's death. She looked more like the woman he had grown up around, and it made him feel lighter for a moment.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" he asked walking towards his mother.

"I got an alert on my phone about Riley and I thought I was seeing things, but I read through the article, and Lucas that poor girl," she said too him walking with him towards the kitchen. "How is she? Have you spoken to her?"

"She's in the office right now talking to a million people about contracts and non-disclosure agreements."

"That girl is stronger than she looks," she smiled at him, it was genuine which was a product of his mother getting to know Riley, and their lunches. "At least now I know that I've always liked her, even if my first impression of her wasn't good."

Lucas couldn't help but look at his mother confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well I've read her books, not the Riley Matthews books, but the other ones, the ones by Jexica Lawrence."

"Oh god," he said looking at his mother in disbelief, he could feel the heat rush into his head thinking about how Riley had talked to him about being more adventurous so that she would have material in her books.

"Lucas I'm not that much of a prude, I do like romance novels," his mother said but he was still stuck on the fact that his mother would read about what he did with Riley. "Your father was always happy whenever I finished one of those novels."

"Mom," Lucas squawked. "Please stop… no more."

"I should talk to Riley about helping me with writing romance novels for older women," she said smiling at him, which meant that she knew what she was doing. He was reminded of when he was growing up, his mother got the same look whenever they ambushed his father with water guns in the summer, nerf guns when it was cooler out.

"Mom, I'm glad your becoming more like the woman who raised me," he said before he pulled her into a hug.

"Your father's death had an impact on me, but after seeing you with Riley, and talking to her I realized that I was frozen in that moment, and that maybe I should start moving forward again."

"I need to check on Liliana, but if you want to stay for dinner you can, we're grilling tonight."

"I will stay," she smiled at him. "I will also take Liliana with me so you and Riley can have a little private time," she gave him a knowing look before walking off towards the office door.

Riley felt her head spinning as she looked over an email her mother had sent her, the moment the news hit her mother had gone through every news source to find the source of it all. It turned out it was someone who had been hired by Evan's family to expose Riley in order to keep the news of Evan going missing from hitting the news. They had only found out about it because Evan had been drunk one night and they decided to get all of the dirt they could out of him. She had sent her mother, agent, and her publicist a statement, writing in detail everything that had happened from the relationship with Evan, everything about the source and Evan's parents. Also that there would be repercussions for him breaking the contract, but in the end she didn't care about the money or anything like that. She was more afraid of her ex himself, he was still missing and his family didn't want to reveal any information so she had also put a note in the email for her mother. That if he's found anywhere near where Riley was the police were going to throw him in prison and there was nothing that his family could do. He had crossed state lines away from where his family had power.

A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts, "Come in," she said thinking it was Lucas but was faced with Lila.

"Hi Riley," she said walking into the room and sitting across from Riley. "I saw the news, and thought you might need a friendly face, or at least a night alone with Lucas."

Riley smiled at the woman, she looked younger for a moment which had thrown Riley for a moment, but it suited her more than the prim and proper woman she had met when she first started going out with Lucas.

"That's nice of you but we were going to have pool day, you're welcome to join us if you want to."

"Lucas already asked me and I'm staying here for dinner, but afterwards I'm going to steal my granddaughter, and maybe watch a Disney movie with her, and you can have some fun with Lucas."

Riley could feel herself blush at the fact that she was essentially getting permission to have sex with Lucas from his mother.

"You know," Lila said looking at her with an amused grin on her face. "I've been a fan of Jexica Lawrence for a very long time, so now I feel even more guilty for being mean to you before. But you also gave me the gift of traumatizing my own son when I thought it wasn't possible anymore so thank you."

Lila smiled at her, and Riley felt a laugh bubble up in her chest, she couldn't stop herself from laughing once it started. It felt good after the last few minutes of going back and forth with her mother about the situation.

"Can I suggest something?" Riley asked after they had finished laughing. "Devon Bradford, um well… he likes you, I thought I should ask you that maybe you could give it a chance with him."

"Riley are you trying to set me up on a date?"

"Maybe, you can go out for coffee, something low maintenance, no pressure," Riley said looking down at her hands for a moment. "I mean you're both single, and you know one another so maybe if you took some time to… well date… something could come out of it."

"I'll think about it," she said smiling. "I haven't thought of dating before, but since Lucas has you maybe it's time for me to take that leap as well."

"Good," Riley said just as Lucas walked into the room. "Hey what's up?"

"I just got a call from the committee, apparently the minute the news hit the internet the tickets they had for the fair sold out," he said smiling at Riley. "Apparently no one cares that you were two authors, they still love you."

"Well that's a reason to celebrate," Lila said.

Riley pulled up one the sites that had published the article and read the comments, most of them were from women saying how much they loved her books. Or people telling her that she was brave. Then one comment caught her eye, it was anonymous but it was from someone who saw her as an inspiration, and it gave them the courage to get out of an abusive relationship. Riley scrolled back up and reread the article, and even though it had been her ex's family who had blabbed, the reporter had dug deeper and made sure to get the facts on everything.

Everything was going to be fine, it was going to be better than fine because she had the world behind her.

* * *

The dinner went by perfectly, but once his mother had left with Liliana, Lucas could feel himself sigh in relief. Somehow even with all of the excitement of the day, and some of the committee stopping by to talk about the fair, he was still wide awake. Riley had gone up to his room after a brief tour so that she could shower and change. They were going to watch a movie, but he decided he would rather just hold onto her instead.

When he reached his door and opened it, she was walking out of the bathroom wrapped in one of those fluffy white towels his mother had made him buy the week before. He hadn't understood why he needed new towels when he had brought some the month before but now seeing Riley in it he couldn't help but smile.

"You know when you said something about tying me up I was excited, even though my bed didn't have anything to tie me to, but that was before I saw you in that towel and it gave me an idea," he said smiling walking towards her. "If I want to be tied to anything right now it would be you."

Riley gasped for a moment before he pressed a kiss to her lips and smiled, "Just the two of us together," he whispered as he kissed her neck. "Where are the ties?"

"Bag," she said her voice barely a whisper.

Lucas reached over to her bag and pulled out a box before hastily opening it to see ribbons and ribbons of silk spilling out of it. He quickly pulled off his clothes and tossed them across the room grabbing the longest of the ties and slowly wrapping it around Riley's wrist. Joining their hands, he wrapped the rest around his wrist before tying it loosely so that it wasn't too tight. He pulled Riley towards the bed and lowered her down onto the mattress, their hands entwined together as he explored her body, trailing small kisses down her neck, stomach, never taking too much as he tasted her. She smelled like his soap, with a hint of lavender oil that he had brought for Riley without thinking.

"You smell so good," he said and she squeezed his hand.

"Lucas, do leave me waiting here," she said to him as she pulled his hand towards her mouth giving him a quick kiss.

"One day we're going to take this slowly," he said as he reached for his bedside drawer to pull out a condom.

"One day," she said smiling. "Not today, it's been a long day I just want to feel you inside of me."

He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "I may need a little help putting this on."

She took the packet from him and unwrapped it before placing it on his free hand adjusting herself on the bed before taking it back and slowly sliding it into place, making him groan at the sensation of her hand on him.

"Make love to me Lucas," she whispered before pulling him down for a kiss.

Lucas didn't need to be told twice as he eased himself into her, she squeezed the hand that was tied to her, and used the other one to pull him closer. It was slow, all that he could feel was the heat of her body against his, and the love in her eyes.

"You know we should do that more often," she said as she yawned. "I don't know if I've ever had something so intimate happen, and all we did was tied ourselves together."

"Sometimes that's all you need," he said kissing the top of her head.

Riley nuzzled into his side, "Well I think we should keep trying new things, because someone said something about chocolate sauce and I'm one hundred percent down for that."

"One day, when I can find one that tastes as good as you do, I'm still getting used to the taste of Riley, and well I'm hooked."

Riley had dozed off soon after they stopped talking, Lucas putting her as the small spoon wrapping his arms around her just before falling asleep himself.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**_A/N: This chapter will kick you right in the feels!_**

 _ **Also naelacy stop reading my mind XP**_

* * *

 ** _Chapter Eleven_**

When Riley woke up it was five in the morning and the sun was inching its way over the horizon, she slowly pried herself away from Lucas just so that she could go to the bathroom because she couldn't hold it in. The thought of going out for an early morning swim came to mind when she was brushing her teeth unable to go back to sleep. She didn't know if Lucas was going to be up early or not so she decided to take a chance since he had a pool and she was restless. After the day before her mind was wandering from moment to moment wondering if the world was going to come crashing down. It didn't but that didn't stop her from thinking it. Two months had passed since she arrived in the small Texas town and it feels as if her life has been trying to resurface.

Riley changed into her bathing suit and walked down to the first floor, Lucas's house was impressive. She had thought it the day before but with everything that had happened she never took the time to actually look around. As she made her way downstairs she looked at the muted tones, and the photographs that lined the walls. Pictures of Lucas growing up, or Liliana growing up, and even his parents in love. It was the home of someone who cared deeply for those that he cherished the most.

Stepping out on to the porch and looking at the soft pinks and purples in the sky as the sun rose over the horizon, Riley wondered if she could have a place in this world as well. A town that protected its own, or better yet a world where Lucas and Liliana were a part of her life permanently. She wanted to dream it but somehow the fear of being hurt came back, had she opened her heart up too soon, had she given herself enough time to move pass what had happened. Question after question plagued her mind in the early hours of the day, she jumped into the pool just to give herself something else to think about. Swimming back and forth without having to think about whether her life was going to get messed up all over again.

"Riley," Lucas said standing on the porch looking at her with a worried expression marring his face. "Why are you in the pool at six in the morning?"

"Couldn't sleep," she said sadly looking up at him.

Lucas stripped down to his boxer shorts and jumped into the pool without saying anything, he grabbed her and pulled her closer to him. "You're thinking too much aren't you?"

She didn't know how he had come to know her so well, but it was comforting. "Well when the last two months of my life have been a whirlwind of emotions I guess all I can do is think too much."

"Some of those emotions were from great things," he said, never once letting go of her. "Maybe this is happening so that the next part of your life is filled with nothing but happy memories."

"Well this part of my life has had a lot of happy memories too," she smiled as he stroked her back. "Thank you, for well everything you've done."

"Honestly I should thank you, if you hadn't come to town I wouldn't have gotten out of this rut I've been in, I would have been forced to marry Missy, my mother wouldn't have become the person she had once been, and I wouldn't have had the chance to be with you which is the best part of all of this."

"Even with all of the drama?"

"Riley, that is just one part of your life that's trying to smooth itself out, the wrinkles are deep and it takes time but maybe after all of this is finished you'll find yourself in a better place."

She could feel her heart warming at his words, Evan had never really talked to her like that and now she realized that maybe this is what she had needed for so long. Some to understand her heart. Pulling away from Lucas's embrace she looked up into his green eyes and saw love in them. _This is where she needed to be_ , she thought to herself before she pulled him towards her. The water put them at eye level as they floated in the pool, and it was perfect. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed her lips to his, it was a silent thank you.

When she pulled away she smiled at him, "This pool is a fantastic idea."

"Yes it is," he said as he pulled her closer and kissed her on the lips.

The taste of chlorine and Lucas was something she would never forget, as the sun rose over the horizon.

"Maybe one day," he said after he pulled away. "We could do a lot of things in this pool, but not during the day because I think someone could walk in at any time. Since you know, my day normally starts at five in the morning."

"I'll take your kisses for now, but next time Liliana is with her grandmother we could try it out. As long as it's still hot outside."

"As you wish," he winked and swam them towards the edge. "For now how about some breakfast, since Liliana is probably going to be here around eight, I have to go into the office for a little while."

"I'll babysit," she said thinking of having a girl's day with Liliana like when they had first met.

"Plus the committee want to start setting up the fair so I thought I would help them out, we can go together and help them," he said smiling.

"Well it seems as though my day is occupied."

"Yes it is," he said as he kissed her one more time. "Hopefully today and tomorrow, and every day in the future will occupied by me and you doing things together."

"That would be nice."

* * *

Lucas leaves for work as Lila and Liliana arrive at the house, Riley felt weird being in the house by herself even for five minutes because it wasn't her place but as soon as the older woman walked in Riley felt a little better.

"How was your date night," Lila said smiling at her as she walked in.

"It was good," Riley said feeling herself blush at the thought that her boyfriend's mother just set them up the night before so that they could have sex. _This is beyond weird_ , she thought to herself. Liliana ran off towards her room Daisy not far behind, so that she could grab her bathing suit since Riley was in hers.

"Okay," Lila said walking over to Riley. "I don't need details, I just thought you two would need some time together to get your mind off of things."

"That was nice of you, and sorry but does this feel weird, about… well."

"We're not discussing that, I just want my son to be happy and live his life," she smiled before sitting down. "Also I talked to Devon, well actually he came over last night after I put Liliana to bed, anyway we're going on a date this Friday. We're going to the Town Fair together, it will be nice and strange at the same time."

"First dates usually are but in the end you have to remember that you know one another so try to relax and have some fun."

"Will do, now I'm going to go prep dinner because the slow cooker would need to be on for at least eight hours so why don't you go check on Liliana and go swimming with her. She wanted to teach Daisy how to swim today."

Riley nodded and walked off to see what was taking the little blonde so much time, when she walked into Liliana's room she realized she hadn't actually seen it the day before. The walls were dusty pink, but there were all kinds of toys littered on the ground. The most impressive was a large Lego model that took up a corner of the room.

"Are you building the Eiffel Tower?" Riley asked as she looked at the half done structure.

"Daddy showed it to me one time, grandma speaks French and she taught him, and they're teaching me because we're going to go as a family."

"You're a very impressive little girl if you can build it like this."

Liliana shrugged her shoulders as she stood up so she could be next to Riley. "I like building things, daddy likes animals the most but I like building."

"Hold onto that dream, maybe you will build something for the world to see one day," Riley smiled at Liliana.

"Riley," Liliana said making Riley look down. "Are you going to be my mommy? Because if you want to marry my daddy I would approve of it, I like you…"

Riley could feel the tears forming on her eyes, she pulled Liliana in for a hug taking in the fact that the little girl had even said anything like that. "If your daddy would have me, I would love to be your mommy."

Most would say that it was too soon for her to be thinking like that, but Lucas stole her heart, and so did his daughter.

Unknown to the two in the bedroom, Lila stood outside of the door holding back her own tears, Riley had changed them all for the better. She hoped that the three of them could be a family in the future, because she owed the woman so much for all she had done in such a short time.

* * *

Lucas worked through the morning, it wasn't easy to be away from Riley thinking about what could happen. Luckily no reporters had shown up in town, and the ones coming were local, they were setting up for the start of the Fair which started on Friday. No one knew where Riley was and for some reason he was very happy about that because at least for this moment she wasn't going to be forced to talk about anything that she didn't want to talk about. After tending to the horses, and a few pets that had been dropped off by concerned neighbors he was ready to just go home and watch a movie with his girls. The thought made him smile thinking of Riley in his house even for a moment, where they could talk after a long day and laugh about what they could find. It was a good feeling for him.

A knock on his office door pulled him away from his thoughts as Zay and Josh both walked into the office. "Please tell me that nothing happened," he said as the two of them sat down in front of him.

"Nah, we're just here to remind you that we're setting up tonight and tomorrow," Zay said smiling at him.

"And also we need to have a talk about the security around Riley's book signing booth considering the amount of people showing up on Friday has nearly doubled from what had been expected," Josh said pulling out a clip board.

"What do we need to expect?" Lucas asked worried that something could change at the last minute.

"We're setting up an area for a press conference for the last day of the Fair, we've talked to any major news outlet that wants to be here and confirmed that this would be the only time that they could ask her questions," Josh started. "We've decided on doing the signings in sections, so that Riley could have a break, but the whole department has to work security that day to make sure that nothing happens."

"We also decided that Riley needs to have someone with her at all time," Zay said looking up at Lucas. "You've been volunteered for most of it, but we also have Jake and Missy as well as some of Riley's friends who are coming down for the weekend. They're staying at the house with Missy and Jake when they get here."

"I'm fine with that but someone will have to watch Liliana," he said looking at the two officers.

"Maya volunteered for that even though she's eight months pregnant and should be on bed rest, but the doctor said that walking would be a good idea," Josh said smiling. Lucas thought that the couple was sweet, and wondered what it would have been like if he had gotten to know them sooner.

"I'll go help with the set up later tonight, maybe I can bring Riley with me because I don't want her staying cooped up the house because of all of this whatever that's happening."

"Good idea, plus it gives you two time to get to know one another," Zay said smiling which only made Lucas want to call Vanessa to reign him in.

"Stop insinuating things about my niece Zay or else I'll send Maya after you," Josh said which made Lucas laugh. "Those two know each other better than most couples do so leave them be."

"Fine, you can ruin my fun," Zay said as he stood up. "I'll see you later man."

"Bye Zay, Josh we'll go over this again on Friday morning okay," he said as the other man stood and shook his hand.

When the two of them left, Lucas decided that his day was officially over, all the animals had been taken care of and sent home so he didn't really have anything else to do. He wanted to go home and rest for a while, his mother had told him that she was making chili and corn bread for dinner which made him happy. It was a normal family moment after so many years of being at odds with the life she had once wanted for him, but it was also a moment that he knew everything was changing. In the background of the call he could hear Liliana squealing and laughing as Riley ran with her yelling after his daughter. They were a family.

Since Lucas had to go set up for the Fair that night they all went, his mother packed up the slow cooker and Riley wrapped the corn bread. They grabbed disposable plates and spoons, and some drinks to take with them. The ride over was filled with laughter and smiles as Riley rode in the front with him, Liliana and his mother in the back, as the soundtrack to Moana played in the background because it was Liliana's favorite movie.

"I'll set up dinner," his mother said smiling at him as they unloaded the car. "Go check on what they need from you."

"Sure thing," he said taking Riley's hand and pulling her along. Liliana waving at them as she sat down to talk to her grandmother.

"I like this," Riley said smiling as they walked towards where the committee was directing people where to go.

"Riley," the head of the committee said as she walked over to the couple.

"Hello Marlene," Lucas said shaking the woman's hand. "Where do you need us?"

"Well Riley's booth is set up towards the steps of the Library, we thought it would be fitting to have it there and the line could go around the back and have the line circle around the parking lot."

"That sounds perfect," Riley said looking over towards where the library was.

"You can oversee everything while Lucas helps set up the table and the booth," Marlene said smiling. "Make that boy work for it," she gave Riley a wink which made her smile.

"I'll do anything as long as Riley's around," he said kissing Riley's hand in the process. "I'm going to check on my mom."

Riley nodded before kissing him on the lips, it was a chaste kiss but she couldn't help but smile into it. Once he took off Marlene took her hand and pulled her towards the staging area.

"You know," Marlene said her red hair moving around with the wind. "I never thought that I'd see the day when that boy would look so happy."

Riley smiled but didn't say anything, she didn't want to pry even though she wanted to know more about Lucas.

"Come on young lady, you can ask me anything," Marlene said as if she were reading Riley's mind.

"Well just tell me about what he was like growing up," she said curious to hear about Lucas's life before she came to town. She only knew about his life with Liliana and the pain his ex-wife had brought him.

"I have a few good stories, I was his teacher in high school," the woman said smiling and acknowledging the people around them. "Let me tell you that boy was a terrible flirt, he couldn't do it at all, but then again he was always working with his Pops in the barn. Missy probably knows more about his love life, it was pretty non-existent growing up. He always said that he had wanted what his parents had. His parents were soulmates if I've ever seen one, they were so happy."

Riley smiled but also worried about Lila and Devon's chances if she was still hung up on her husband.

"Anyway, Lucas thought he had found it with that woman, but in the end she had only wanted his fortune, it just about broke my heart to watch him raise that little girl on his own, but he's as strong as his Pops and his mother helped him."

"Do you think that…"

"That you and him are something as special as his parents, well honey the way he looks at you, you'd think you would have hung the moon in the sky."

Riley could feel herself blush at the words, "I doubt that but I understand true love, my parents are the same. I guess I'm lucky to have Lucas right now."

"Honey, I read that article if anything you're both lucky to have one another, your souls were meant to meet at this moment, don't think less of it, he's meant to be with you. That's a legend in this town here, people who fall in love here are meant to be together, but then again it's an urban legend."

She couldn't help but laugh at that but filed it away in her memory for the story, maybe there was something to it. A world where soulmates meet and fall in love in one place and stay together forever. Maybe there were several places like that around the world, all it takes is a single meeting, a simple conversation and a small moment in time.

* * *

On the day that the Fair was set to start Riley could feel her nerves taking over, she was restless even though she had done it a million times before, but this was the first time when her two worlds merged into one. She woke up in Lucas's bed feeling for his body but he wasn't there, instead she was greeted with a squealing Liliana jumping on top of the bed.

Riley grabbed the little girl and pulled her down, "You know that's not how you wake someone," she said in the little girl's ear. "This is how you wake someone up," she started tickling Liliana smiling as the little girl was giggling and squealing.

Lucas walked in with a tray of food causing the two of them to stop what they were doing and looking over at him.

"Daddy this is girl time," Liliana said.

"You hear the girl," Riley said chiming in.

"As much as I love watching you two having a tickle fight," he said with a smile. "We have to eat, and get to the center of town by eight to do a final check so sit up and let's eat these pancakes and sausage."

"Yes sir," Riley said as Liliana sat up and smiled at her father.

"Yes daddy," she said as the three of them tucked into their meal.

"My signing start at nine today and go until noon right," Riley said as she cut into the pancakes and handed them over to Liliana who pour a mountain of syrup on them.

"Yup, and you have a break until two and the second half starts until five and we'll be done for the day, and the second signing on Saturday is the same except you have to sign until six."

"Gotcha," she said smiling.

"Gophcha," Liliana said her mouth full of pancakes with syrup dripping out of her mouth. Lucas grabbed a napkin and cleaned her face as Riley tucked another into her pajama top.

Once they were finished, Riley helped Liliana pick out the perfect outfit for the day as Lucas made a few phone calls to the ranch office to make sure that they didn't need him.

When they arrived at the Library Riley was greeted by her agent and her publicist along with two other guest that had Riley smiling as she reached them.

"Charlie, Sarah," she said rushing towards them and pulling them into a hug. "Why are you here?"

"Well we wouldn't leave you here to deal with all of this without help," Charlie said as they pulled away.

"Plus Charlie wanted to see his sister before she popped out that baby," Sarah said laughing. "Now are you going to introduce us?"

"Yeah we don't want to be rude," Charlie followed his wife's lead as Lucas and Liliana stood to the side.

Riley rolled her eyes, they knew who Lucas was but they just wanted formal introductions just so that they could assess the man. Just like when they were all in school together, Maya did the same thing. Traditions never fade.

"Okay," she said gesturing for Lucas to walk over. "Charlie, Sarah, this is Lucas and Liliana Friar. Lucas, Liliana these two are my friends from New York, Charlie and Sarah Gardner. Charlie is Maya's step-brother, and Sarah is his wife."

"It's good to meet you," Lucas said as Liliana held out her hand to shake theirs.

"It's good to meet the boyfriend," Sarah said emphasizing the word boyfriend.

Charlie pulled Lucas aside leaving the girls alone together. Lucas knew that he was going to get the shovel talk, he was waiting for it from Josh who was Riley's Uncle but it never happened with all of the stuff that had happened with Riley's ex.

"Listen Lucas," Charlie said. "I wanted to thank you for everything you've done for Riley. I've talked to Maya about it and I was worried at first but it's about time that Riley found happiness."

"I would do anything for her," he said smiling.

"I hope so because if you hurt her I will kill you and bury the body in your house," Charlie said smiling. "Just kidding, I'm not a violent person, it's just that…"

"She's been through a lot. I understand," he said shaking Charlie's hand. "I can't guarantee that we won't fight, but I strive to give her all the happiness in the world, she has given me that and more in the short time we've known one another."

"Well this makes shovel talk one of one hundred done, wait until you meet her parents, I mean her mother is scary but her father would probably kill you for real."

"Charlie," Riley screamed out. "No Lucas my father isn't like that, well maybe he's a little over protective but he won't kill you I swear."

"You wish," Maya's voice came from behind Riley which only made Lucas laugh. "Her father is straight crazy when it comes to Riley, he freaked out when she wore lip gloss for the first time."

"Maya," Riley said turning to meet her best friend.

The group was laughing as Riley tried to defuse the situation but it was a lost cause when everyone was laughing. Lucas grabbed Riley and gave her a quick kiss before leading her towards the booth.

"Don't worry I'm not scared of your father, if anything we could become close friends if he gave me the chance," Lucas said as he greeted Riley's literary agent. The two of them talked about the security detail and how it would go for the rest of the day.

Just as the crowds were starting to gather a delivery was made to the table, from the local flower shop. Riley thought it was a nice gesture, there were several bouquets of flowers, some from the town others from her publishers, and one from Lucas and his mother. She looked at the last one which had a note but no name. Riley looked at the flowers and realized they were her favorites, Casablanca Lilies and Snap Dragons. She pulled the note out wondering if they were from her family who wasn't there but the note only had three words which made her freeze on the steps of the library as a hundred or so people began to line up to meet her.

 _I see you_


	12. Chapter Twelve

_**A/N: More feels, a lot of feels more questions and because all of the jokes I made on Tumblr about this particular part of the story… well it finally happens**_

* * *

 _ **naelacy the L names were on purpose…. Because you can't leave me alone with naming Lucas's family these days**_ **¯\\_(ツ)_/¯** _ **, I also have a billion ideas for Rucas stories so I won't be stopping for a while. Although I might have to slow down because I have to write my Master's Thesis a semester early. I have ideas for another 2 adult AU's, a high school AU, Season 5, 6, 7, as well as my own novels, I also have to finish the superhero AU.**_ **~(˘▾˘~) (~˘▾˘)~** _ **so much writing to do! I also have a million one-shot ideas I need to write.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve**

Every face in the crowd looked like Evan to her, even though they weren't him, she had shown the note to Lucas soon after she had seen it and he ended up crushing a bottle of water on her table. Automatically he set off towards Josh and they talked but he had left Riley in the booth surrounded by people thinking of the one person who could ruin everything. When Lucas returned she noticed a lot more officers surrounding the area which eased her tension just a fraction.

"Everything is going to be fine," Lucas said in her ear as she smiled and signed a book for someone. He quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek and returned to helping Charlie and Sarah with the line of people.

With each hour that passed her nerves were retching themselves up stomach and into her throat, because she would certainly throw up on some poor unsuspecting person just from thinking about anything happening. When the first signing ended, Lucas pulled her into a small office inside of the library and closed the door behind him. She let out a breath she hadn't known that she had been holding in at the time.

"What are we going to do Lucas?" she asked as she sat down on a nearby chair. Even though she had been sitting for hours her legs couldn't stand on their own.

He walked up to her and kneeled down on the ground taking her hands. "Don't worry about him, he wouldn't do anything with this many witnesses, if he did try something he would be arrested so fast."

"Did they find out where the flowers came from?"

"Josh and Zay are looking into it, they even called the state troopers to look into it as well," he said picking her hands up and placing a soft kiss on them. "Don't worry, I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"Okay," she said to him as she took her hands from his grasp and placed them on his face. "I trust you."

Lucas smiled and leaned into her placing his forehead on hers before kissing her softly on the lips. "Let's get some food for you to eat and get you ready for the second half of this madness."

"The people in the crowd aren't as bad as I thought they would be," she said standing up and pulling him up with her. "They've been nice this entire time."

"Yeah but I also know you're worried so let's get your mind off of things and play some of those overpriced carnival games."

"I can eat a corndog while I watch you play, and walk around being all lovely dovey," she smiled. "Normal couple stuff, which we haven't really done because there hasn't been any time."

"Not so much time, just too much happening all at once, but that also meant I had you all to myself, and didn't have to share."

"Well that's a lie because you've had everyone in town meet me, sometimes I wonder if it was your plan all along, you know to get all the little old ladies to like me so that I would stay no matter what."

"You wound me Riley," he said putting his arm around her shoulder. "Liliana was my trump card, everyone else likes you because you're a wonderful person. But I wouldn't mind a little alone time tonight," he gave her a wink as they stopped at one of the Food stalls and he got everything from popcorn to hot dogs.

She watched him as he played every game he could, winning her a giant stuffed purple cat, and a giant unicorn for Liliana. Riley made him go back to win a stuffed pony for himself and when he refused she played the game instead and won it for him with a giant smile on her face.

"Now you can match," she said as they walked towards his truck to put them in the seat. "What now?"

"Well we could always go behind the library and make out like a couple of teenagers but considering the line goes back there it wouldn't work very well," he said making her laugh.

It was so normal that she had completely forgotten about Evan for a while, when they walked back to the booth she was greeted by Maya who was sitting in a chair next to hers, and Missy who was taking over for Sarah and Charlie.

"There's my girls," she said as she sat down.

"Well I had to leave you in good hands," he said smiling. "I'm going to work the line with Josh."

"Okay," she said before kissing him on the lips.

Lucas was enjoying himself even with all of the anxiety of thinking that Riley's ex was somewhere nearby he knew that he needed to make sure that she wasn't too stressed out. So when he stepped away from her smiling he could still feel this nagging feeling that something was going to go wrong.

"Hey," he said to Josh as he reached when the man was standing towards the middle of the long line of fans. "Any news?"

"None what's so ever," Josh answered. "I do have news but it's more of a heads up for you."

Lucas looked Josh in the eye worried that it would be something he was going to dread. "Out with it Matthews, I don't have time for suspense right now."

Josh laughed and pulled him aside. "Riley's folks are on their way down, along with mine and Maya's, we're having a baby shower on Sunday so they're all flying down. But the heads up is more about the fact that my brother Cory, Riley's father, her brothers and even my dad all have it out for you right now."

"Geez," he said running a hand through his hair. "How bad is this going to be?"

"Well my dad isn't as crazy with Riley, but my brother has been freaking out since he saw the news about Riley, he kind of… well he never knew that Riley wrote romance novels, I mean her mother knew but since it had a good amount of sex in it and he swears that Riley's as pure as they come."

"This isn't going to be fun at all is it?"

"Nope but I like you so that's one on your side, and her mom likes you especially after I talked to her about how you've been there the last few weeks."

"That's good… at least I hope."

Lucas stood there for a moment before he sighed thinking about talking to Josh about something he's been holding back for a while. It had been nagging him for a little while, especially since Liliana had asked him if Riley was going to be her mother.

"Hey Josh," he said as he looked out into the distance. "If I asked Riley to move in with me, and stay in Texas with the possibility of one day becoming my wife… well… um… how do you think she would react?"

Josh looked at him for a moment before breaking out into a smile. "You are probably the best guy she's ever met, well outside of her family and her closest friends, but in a romantic relationship kind of way… Anyway, I think she would have stayed even if you hadn't thought to ask her. She likes you Lucas, and in some ways I think she's ready for a new start away from everything that had once held her back."

"So is that a blessing?"

"Yes, but you're going to have to have the talk with her, and even her parents."

Lucas smiled thinking that it shouldn't be so bad, as long as Riley was there anchoring him, everything would be perfect, they just had to get through this one very human sized hurdle.

As the signing ended Lucas received an urgent call from one of the nearby farms and had to leave, "Hey Josh, I'm going to leave my truck here so Riley could get back to the house, but can you make sure she gets there with Liliana and that she's safe."

"Duty calls man, don't worry I'll have Maya and Missy go with her and then send one of the patrol cars to watch the house as soon as I can."

"Thanks," he said rushing towards the booth to where Riley was talking to the last of the fans. "Sorry ladies," he said before kneeling down to whisper in Riley's ear. "I have to go, veterinary emergency, but Josh is going to send a patrol car to the house, and I'm leaving my truck here for you to get back. He's talking to Maya and Missy about going with you, and I'll have my phone too."

"Don't worry about me," she said smiling. "I have my entourage, and knowing you, you'll be back in no time at all."

"Sure will," he said kissing her before rushing off to meet Jake who was waiting at his car.

Riley watched Lucas walk away and sighed, she was a lucky woman, and an unlucky one all at the same time but she trusted him and she trusted her friends. So when she finished up with the last person at her booth and met up with everyone at Lucas's truck she couldn't help but smile.

"So how about some take-out tonight, because I have zero urge to actually cook after all of this madness," she said as she climbed into the car.

"I want pizza," Liliana said as she settled into the backseat of the car.

"One vote for pizza, what about you Maya?"

"I wouldn't mind pizza either, but we may have to order mine separately because cravings are a bit… um… yeah they're crazy," Maya answered.

"You almost said a bad word," Liliana said making Riley laugh.

"That she did, Missy any request?"

"I wouldn't mind pizza either, but I'll order mine separately too," Missy answered shyly.

"She's got pregnancy cravings," Maya said with a smile. "Finally someone other than me eating weird things. Riley you have to have a kid soon so you can join us in our madness."

Riley's hands stilled on the wheel for a moment before she continued to drive, mumbling a whatever towards the other women. She didn't know what to think, it seemed like a normal conversation, but she hadn't thought too much about having another child, but then she looked at Liliana who was smiling at Maya like she was a goddess walking the earth and thought about what a kid with Lucas would look like. So when they got to the pizza place her mind was filled with thoughts of a little boy with Lucas's hair but her eyes, or a little girl with her hair and his eyes.

The thought didn't go far as she ordered four different pizzas, enough that when the guys arrived they would be able to eat as well. She also ordered Maya's veggie and meat supreme with barbeque sauce and pickle juice, which made Riley gag when they put actual pickles into the pie, and Missy's pepperoni and chicken pizza with onions and peppers and anchovies, and more pickles. Riley didn't know if being pregnant just threw women's cravings out a window and down a very steep cliff judging from the contents of these pizzas.

"God I hope my cravings never look like whatever the hell that is," she said as she paid for the six pies and walked out with them under her arm. Having brothers teaches a girl how to be able to handle large amounts of food, gross or otherwise but this was ridiculous to her.

When they drove off towards the house everyone was in high spirits, the summer sun was still in the sky until pass eight at night so they decided to leave the blinds in the living room open as Liliana grabbed the remote and opened up her favorite movie app to put on Beauty and the Beast. They ate and laughed and sang their way through the movie when Maya let out a gasp and looked over at the group.

"Guys I think my water just broke," she said as the liquid soaked the couch and ran down her legs.

"Maya you're not due for another six weeks," Riley said standing up, and internal freak out happening.

"We need to get her to a hospital," Missy said looking between the group.

"Right hospital, Missy you help Maya get cleaned up in the bathroom, Liliana call your dad and tell him that we're taking Maya to the hospital, you know how to right?"

"Yes daddy is the first number on the speed dial on the phone," Liliana said smiling.

"That's my girl," Riley said kissing the little girl on the head.

"I'm going to go start the car," she said walking towards the back door, pizza boxes forgotten on the coffee table. "Crap, Maya can you call Josh, I don't know where my phone is."

"I'll call my husband don't worry, plus he was on his way to pick up the family from the airport and should be on his way back by now," she said smiling. "Riles, I'm going to be a mom."

"Yes you are," Riley grinned, but worried about the baby since it was still six weeks from Maya's due date. She remembered that Josh had also been a premature baby, but he made it so maybe they would have luck on their side again.

As she walked out of the house and towards the car she heard a rustling in a nearby bush, in all of the excitement she had forgotten about the reason why she was surrounded by so many people in the first place, she looked up the drive to see if the patrol car had been there, but it had become so dark that she couldn't really tell, and they had either forgotten to turn on the outdoor lights or the power was out. The street lights weren't on either, so when a cat ran in front of her she screamed out thinking it was the end.

"Just a cat," she said as she made her way towards the car before someone grabbed her from behind and placed their hand over her mouth before she could scream again.

Riley struggled for a moment as she felt the hot breath of her captor against her neck, feeling as he breathed her in before uttering a single word to her.

"You thought you could hide from me," Evan's voice said from behind her. "That you were allowed to move on without me knowing?"

She wanted to say something but his hand was covering her mouth so all she could do was whimper. Then she felt it, the butt of a gun at her back, her younger brother was a cop and so was her uncle so of course she knew what a gun felt like, but it didn't make it any less scarier.

"You know when I heard that you had left New York, I almost lost it, I beat up that stupid idiot my parents had with me to keep me from doing anything crazy," he said as he nuzzled her neck. "You belong to me, not to that guy who goes off to do whatever he did today… you know I watch you with him, as he won those prizes for you, and fed you. I also saw you with him in the pool kissing one another… you shouldn't have let him kiss you Riley, you're mine remember."

Riley screamed out into his hand as she felt the wetness in her eyes, Evan slowly pulled her towards the back gate of the house. The gun making its presence known at her back every time she attempted to pull away.

"Make a sound and I'll go and kill your friend Maya first, she's pregnant isn't she?" he said making her cry into his hand. "Maybe the little girl next, I see how close you are to her."

She let out a muffled no as his words hit her hard. These people were her family, she didn't want them to get hurt in any way.

He pulled his hand away from her mouth for a moment, "Are you going to make a noise Riley?"

She shook her head making sure not to make a sound as the hand that had covered her mouth made its way towards her neck and down her chest. The skin on her body all of a sudden felt foreign as he touched her, it wasn't Lucas touching her who made her feel all warm and happy but the man she had once thought that she loved. The man who had abused her into thinking that she wasn't worth anything, not the accolades she won, not the praise from her own family.

"You're coming with me," he said. "And you're going to stay with me forever, even if I have to kill you and have you stuffed into a doll."

"Evan you're sick, you need help," she whispered to him.

"You made me this way, you're a fucking tease Riley, you always have been, but your mind, and I'm going to make it feel as if another man had never touched you in the first place."

As they walked forward Riley tripped on a rock, her clumsiness making itself known right when she was being kidnapped. But it also gave her the opportunity to grab a nearby rock before Evan pulled up back up. Now facing him he pushed himself on to her and the moment their lips touched she wanted to pull away, instead she used the moment to bash the rock into his head.

Surprised for a moment he let her go long enough to give her a chance to run from him, she wanted to scream but didn't want to risk Liliana being the one to run out of the house towards her and get the little girl shot. Just as she reached Lucas's truck the first shot was fired, and landed right near her feet. She ducked and made her way towards the door of the car as Evan screamed out her name.

Scrambling into the front seat she fumbled with the keys until the second shot rang out into the air and lodged itself into the seat beside her. The minute the key was in the ignition she turned on the car as the third shot was fired, this time right in her shoulder making her cry out as he jumped onto the bed of the truck. Riley didn't have time to think of the pain that was starting from her arm, or the blood dripping onto the seat. She pressed down on the gas lunging the car forward making Evan fall backwards and onto the drive way as she drove forward. She knew he would make good on his threat to go after Maya and Liliana so as he stood up she drove the car onto the grass and faced him before revving the car up and hitting him with it with as much force as she could.

Just as he flew backwards the lights of a police car lit up the area, Riley could feel her heart crying out in happiness as the cars surrounded them. Liliana came running out of the house as Riley stumbled out of the car, hugging the little girl.

"Are you alright?" Riley asked and Liliana nodded at her.

"Are you," she said as she looked at Riley's bloody arm.

"Not really but I'm going to be once I get all fixed up," she said as Maya and Missy walked out of the house.

Josh came barreling towards his wife at the same time Lucas made his way towards Riley. "Shit Riley," he said as he pulled her close hugging both of them.

"Daddy said a bad word," Liliana said making Riley laugh.

"Sorry baby girl," he said before kissing her on the head. "We heard that Evan had been spotted in town and Josh called in all the officers to get to you but we were too late."

"Lucas, I ran him over with a car, your truck actually, so please don't worry too much about him. He's in the past, pay attention to the beautiful creature bleeding on your shirt right here."

He let out a short laugh as be pulled her closer. "Of course you're going to make jokes," he pulled her away and looked at her shoulder. "The bullet went right through so we should be able to get you patched up just fine."

"We need to go to the hospital anyway, Maya went into labor just before Evan showed up," she said smiling at him. "And I love you."

"I love you too," he said kissing her. "My truck is a crime scene so we're going to have to ride that ambulance."

"Yup," she said as an EMT walked towards her.

"Oh and your parents are in town, Josh dropped them off at the house with Jake when we got the call so most likely they're going to be showing up."

"Were you with Josh?" she asked as they pulled her onto a stretcher.

"No, he called me the moment he got the call and Jake drove us over," he said holding her hand. He picked up Liliana and carried her with him.

Maya was being put into another ambulance as they loaded up Evan into the third. "I feel so tired all of a sudden."

"That would be the adrenaline wearing itself down, don't worry I'll be here with you," he said just as they drove off. "You did good Riley, you saved the day."

"I sure did," she smiled as she drifted off to sleep, the stress of the day pulled her into sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: That's right Riley saves herself!**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**A/N: It's getting so close to the end of this story ｡゜(｀Д´)゜｡ and as much as I don't want it to end, well it's going to end because there's so much more that I want to write, but I also have to write my novel so I could disappear for a month and only write one-shots and as much as I can of the Superhero AU which I've neglected just so I can finish this one.**

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen**

Lucas felt his mind going a hundred miles per hour, his daughter was safe, but he couldn't protect Riley. He was proud that she had stood up for herself because he knew that this is what she needed the most in order to be able to move forward. All that he knew was that he needed to be there for her, so when she fell asleep in the ambulance his heart almost stopped, the paramedics told him that she was just exhausted and that she was alright.

They waited in the waiting room as they patched her up but he couldn't help but pace back and forth, he worried, for some reason that's what had kept him grounded instead of flying off the rails and rushing towards the room that they held that man in and strangling him to death. He had a daughter and his family, his life, but he knew that Riley would be angry with him for doing something as crazy as going after the guy who had tried to kill her.

"My daughter has always tried to see the best in people," a man with curly brown hair said to him.

Lucas hadn't noticed a group of people rush into the room, Josh had told him that they had been planning on a baby shower for Maya for Sunday and that their family had arrived that day but now he was facing the father of the woman he was in love with and didn't know what to do.

"Even in her ex she tried her best, but sometimes a person can't be fix," the man continued. "You on the other hand I don't know a thing about, and I hear from my wife, and my younger brother that you are in love with my only daughter."

Lucas felt himself gulp down air and held out his hand. "My name is Lucas Friar," he said trying to sound put together but his nerves were snapping inside of him.

"Oh I know, and while I want to berate you and say you're not good enough for my baby girl, I feel that my wife would probably beat me senseless right here and I would be in the bed next to Riley," he said with a soft smile on his face. "My name is Cory Matthews."

He took Lucas's hand and shook it before pulling him into a hug. "You hurt my little girl and so help me I will run you over with the truck she used on Evan and then to make sure you were dead I will tie your body to the truck and drag you through town."

"Cory," a woman yelled from behind them making the older man stiffen. "I swear you did not just say that especially since his daughter is sitting right behind you."

"Come on Topanga… Honey… Love of my life," Cory Matthews said to his wife, but all he received was a cold hard look.

"Hi Lucas, I'm Riley's mother Topanga," she said taking his hand in hers. "Don't listen to my husband he's a little over protective of Riley, even her brothers are the same since she's the only girl in the family, heck she's the only granddaughter in the family so all the boys treat her like she's breakable."

"She's not, she's the strongest person I know," he said smiling at Riley's mother.

They sat there in the room waiting as other members of the family came in and out, some were worried about Riley, while Josh just paced back and forth after a nurse had kicked him out of the delivery room for annoying the nurses because he was worried over his wife. His mother showed up with Missy's father who were both worried about Riley but Lucas didn't say a word to them because he was too worried himself.

"Lucas Friar," a nurse said after they had been there for six hours. Lucas looked up meeting the nurse's eyes, worried that something worse had happened. "Riley would like to see you."

"Okay," he said standing up. "Shouldn't her parents be the ones to see her first though?"

"She asked for you," the nurse smiled before walking out of the room.

Lucas couldn't help but sigh because he worried that Riley's parents would take it the wrong way, but Mrs. Matthews just nodded at him while holding her husband down.

"Don't worry Lucas, you can go see her first," she said before he walked out of the room.

The hospital corridor gave him a horrible flashback to when his father had died, so much had happened since then but it was still a sore subject to him. Even when he had brought Liliana to the hospital when she was a baby after a bad cough, or the worry he had over his mother since his father passed away. He didn't expect the feeling of uselessness to come because the woman he loved had been injured. There were officers in the room when he walked inside speaking to Riley, he could only stand there and take in the fact that she was there alive and well. Even with the bandage and the sling on her shoulder, she was completely whole.

The officers left after a moment had passed leaving him standing at the door watching her sigh as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

"You know I wouldn't have run him over if it meant getting grilled by a bunch of police officers," she said looking up at him and smiling. "But it was oddly satisfying to get that part of my life out of the way."

"Yeah well my truck is now a crime scene and honestly as much as I loved that thing, I think I want something a little more bullet proof," he smiled at her.

"Very funny," she said holding out her free hand for him to take as he walked over. "But for now I think I'll settle for this."

"You know there's a group of crazy relatives outside, some who have threatened bodily harm towards me if I hurt you."

"So I take it that my parents are here?"

"Yes, and while I can laugh at your father's threat, your mother is scary."

Riley smiled at him thinking about what her parents might have said to him while they waited, she thought of her father the overprotective man, who tried his best even after everything that had happened. He wanted her to live with them forever after Evan but she wanted to move forward in some way. Something her mother was proud of in every sense, and she was really happy that her mother had suggested the trip. Even after being shot, because she wouldn't have been able to meet all of the people she had met, or even had had the chance to meet with Lucas who had become so much more than just another person she would date.

"Do you know how Maya is?" she asked after a moment had passed.

"They kicked Josh out of the delivery room," Lucas said to her with a smile. "But from what I understand the baby is 100% alright, nothing is wrong, and the doctor thinks that she might have been farther along than they thought. It's a girl by the way."

"Finally," she said no longer the only granddaughter in the family.

Lucas smiled at her before kissing her on the lips, "Anyway, her name is Olivia Rose Matthews, Josh is ecstatic right now, his parents and Maya's parents are with them now."

"How's Liliana? And Missy?"

"Lili is fine, she's in the waiting room sleeping on my mother's lap, Missy went home with Jake after they checked her out, she said she'll be back in the morning with some food for everyone," he said. "The waiting room had been overly crowded with everyone, so she thought it would be better to leave and come back."

"What about the signing scheduled for today?" Riley knew just how many people had come to see her and of course she worried about everything.

"They canceled it after I called and sent out an email, your publicist sent out a statement so the world will know what happened."

Riley sighed, once again her life was out there for the world to see, hopefully no one will think it's weird that she ran her attacker over with a truck but at that point she didn't really care.

"I don't want to stay tonight but they said I can't leave, so can you stay with me," she said knowing that somewhere in the hospital was Evan.

"Wild horses couldn't drag me away," Lucas said before kissing her on the lips, it was so normal and comforting. "Now can we deal with your family before they come barreling into the room screaming about how you asked for me and not them."

"That would mostly be my father because my mother is nothing like that," she said.

Lucas walked out of the room and came back with a group of people she hadn't seen since she left New York, her grandparents smiled at her and gave her a quick kiss on the head, while her father was held back by her mother before he could do anything to harm her by fussing over her. Liliana looked at her tired, holding her grandmother's hand, but the little girl broke free and climbed into the bed next to Riley and held onto to her as Riley patted her head.

When her grandparents left with Lila and Devon, her father walked over and looked at her before saying a word. He hugged her without hurting her tears in his eyes.

"My baby," he said looking her in the eye.

"Dad I'm not the baby in the family that would be Auggie," she replied.

"No, you're my baby no matter what," he said holding her face in his hands. "I can't wait until you're back in New York in our house where you're safe and sound."

At his words Riley stiffened, Liliana looked up at her with tears in her eyes, but Riley knew she wasn't leaving Texas, not without Lucas and the little girl holding onto her side.

"Dad, we need to talk about that," she said and saw her mother sigh which was directed more at her father than it was at her.

"Cory you have to let your daughter go eventually," her mother said.

"Never," he replied.

"Well that might be kind of hard if she's not moving back home, what do you plan to do then huh?"

"I'll drag her back."

"She's an adult," her mother said dragging her father off as Lucas sat at the edge of the bed rubbing Riley's bare foot.

"You would think he'd realize that I can't stay home forever," she said to Lucas.

"What does this mean for us?" he asked his eyes questioning everything.

"I don't want to leave, I want to be with you Lucas," she said smiling at him. "And with Liliana. You both mean the world to me."

"Does that mean that you're going to be my Mommy?" Liliana said.

"One day maybe," she said looking at Lucas.

"I'd take tomorrow if you'd give it to me," he said taking his daughter's hand in one hand, and Riley's in the other. "Riley I almost lost you today, I don't know if I could bare another tomorrow without you in my life."

"You want me to stay?"

"For as long as eternity would have us together," he said. "I don't have a ring, and we've only been together for two months but Riley if you would have me I would love to be with you for the rest of my life."

"Nooo," someone yelled from the other side of the room making Riley laugh.

"Cory, that young man just gave her the most heartwarming proposal and you've ruined it," her mother said.

Before she could answer the door to the room burst open and everyone including Maya who held a little bundle in her hands were smiling.

Lucas couldn't believe what was happening everyone had been on the other side of the door, he thought his mother had left but in the end they had just left them so that he could talk to Riley.

His mother walked over to him and handed him a box smiling, "It was the one your father gave me when he proposed, it's been in the family for generations."

Lucas looked at his mother, and back to Riley, "Do I want to know why you have this?"

"Well," she said grinning. "Not too long ago I overheard Liliana ask Riley if she was going to be her Mother," Riley gasped from his side as his mother continued. "And I thought that when the time came you'd need this."

"Nooo," Riley's father yelled again.

"Yes," the rest of the room answered looking at Riley waiting for her to answer.

"This is happening," Maya said looking at Mr. Matthews.

"Ask her Daddy," Liliana said smiling as she jumped up and down on the bed.

Lucas couldn't believe it, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he stood up and got down on one knee next to Riley as his daughter jumped excitedly up and down.

"Riley Matthews, it would be the greatest honor to be your husband if you would take me," he said smiling.

All of a sudden tears appeared on her eyes and she nodded, "Yes Lucas I'll be your wife if you would have me."

The room erupted in cheers that were quickly quieted by the crying baby in Maya's arms. Riley blushed as she kissed Lucas, before turning to her best friend smiling.

"Hand over that baby, I want to meet my little cousin," she said smiling as the baby was placed on her lap.

The rest of the night was a whirlwind of congratulations and smiles, even though Riley's father kept objecting, while her mother continued to remind him that Riley was an adult. For Lucas he had realized that his life had somehow become complete in the matter of a few months. When everyone else left, leaving him alone with Riley and Liliana, he pulled up a chair and slept in an awkward position while his girls slept on the hospital bed.

* * *

It took a week for Riley to get out of her father's grasp, the man was relentless, when he found out that Riley was staying at Lucas's house he freaked out. So Lucas offered him and her mother one of the guest rooms so that they would be comfortable, but it only spurred her father on in his efforts to make her move back to New York. When they reached the airport the last day, her mother said out loud that she would have Riley's things brought to Texas, which only made her father scream in agony.

Liliana had gone to stay with her grandmother for the weekend, since the two decided to go on an out of town trip to Houston to see some exhibit, and have a girl's weekend. Which was code for give Riley and Lucas some time together. Riley knew this, and she was eternally grateful.

"So," Lucas said when they reached the house. "You can't really move your arm because of the sling, but that just means more fun for me."

"Lucas," she said faking astonishment.

"I love you," he replied.

"I love you too, now let do this because I don't know how many more free nights we have left. My father is probably devising a way to move down here to keep an eye on us."

"Alright but you can't move," he said smiling. "Doctor's orders."

She smiled at him and wrapped her one good arm around his shoulders before kissing him on the lips. "Best orders ever."

He lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom as she nuzzled his neck the entire way up the stairs. When they reached the room he placed her on the bed as gently as he could, grabbing the silk ties they had used the last time and tying her good hand to her waist.

"I can't really take your shirt off because of the brace but I'll make due," he said kissing her neck which made her shiver, the twinge from her shoulder reminded her of the injury until Lucas ran his hand up her leg.

He took her lips in his and kissed her softly. It was a good thing she wore a jean skirt because she didn't even have to take it off. When he pulled away she nearly cried out from the loss of his lips.

"Remember no moving."

"That's going to be kind of hard considering," she smiled looking at him.

It was gentle in every way, each kiss, each touch, every single small movement but it was also the closest they've been in what felt like an eternity of drama. No more thoughts about their exes, no more thoughts about what would come popping out of the woods, everything that had lead them down this road just gave them a reason to live in the moment, this moment and every moment. So when Lucas untied her uninjured hand and entwined their fingers together, she felt the love of a man who had taken all of her faults, and her bad past, and loved her for the woman she had become afterwards.

Gently rocking them back and forth, heat in every single touch, nothing being held back. It was intimate in a way she had never felt before but it was perfect in every single way. He held her close as they finished calling out each other's names, careful not to injure her further. Holding her close as they fell asleep for just a moment. It was what she had dreamt of, falling in love and having that person put her first, gave her choices, and let her live. She was free of her former life, and now she was free to live happily.

When they woke up, Lucas smiled at her and helped her up taking her to the bathtub, helping her bathe, rubbing her feet, pampering her. "I'll have to repay you once I have this taken off," she said smiling.

"All I need is you, happy and healthy," he said before leaning down and kissing her.

"Well the best I can do is plan our wedding as soon as possible because I swear my father is going to do something drastic," she laughed.

"We could just go to Vegas," he winked at her.

"Nope, I've always dreamed of one of those weddings where there's flowers everywhere and I walk down in one of those old boho looking dresses and ridiculous high heels. While I wonder whether I'm going to trip and fall."

"How about a Fall wedding then, oranges and yellows."

"That's doable," she smiled.

It was such a normal conversation, she couldn't understand why she had to wait so long for something like this, but she also knew that sometimes you had to live through the bad moments before something wonderful came along.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**A/N: Be warned this is angst and fluff and all kinds of crazy**

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen**

The next day Riley and Lucas were standing in the county court office waiting to testify to see if Evan would be taken back to New York or if he would be tried in Texas for trying to kidnap Riley as well as shooting her in the shoulder. Riley felt her nerves going haywire because not far from where she sat were Evan's parents and their big city lawyer. Her mother didn't have jurisdiction in Texas, something about state lines and lawyers, so of course her ex could have a lawyer who could fight for him, luckily for her Lucas knew a good lawyer and called him up to help.

"It's going to be okay," Lucas said as he held her hand. "Don't worry even if they try something they would have to deal with the lawsuit your mother would file if they take him back to New York."

"I know," she said to him giving him a small smile. Her mother had told her that if they allow him back in New York that she would sue Evan's whole family until they were drowned in so much controversy the state would force his father out of his job.

"All rise," the bailiff said and began introducing the judge overseeing the case. Riley felt bile at the back of her throat thinking of what was going to happen. There was no jury, not yet anyway, if they didn't get a plea dead from the judge towards Evan it would go to trial and Riley was willing to sue.

The judge was a woman, which Lucas smiled at. "This could be a good thing," he said squeezing her hand.

All she could do was nod at him, she felt like if she talked she would throw up in an instant. Evan looked at her and smirked and she nearly loss her breakfast all over the floor.

"I have read over this case," the judge said looking out into the room. "What do you plea Mr. Walters?"

"My client would like to plead not guilty by reason of insanity," the lawyer said but Riley only heard the not guilty part and wanted to scream.

"That's an interesting choice. It also seems as though you would like to extradite him to New York even though the crime took place in Texas is that correct."

"Yes Ma'am," the lawyer answered.

"But seeing as how his family knows about his former relationship with Ms. Matthews whom he attacked, and had recently leaked out information pertaining to her private life, it seems as though you're trying to get around the law based on an insanity plea."

"Your honor, my client is not at fault for his mental state, and should not be held in Texas without proper medical care."

"Sit down for a moment," the judge said before looking over to where Riley sat. "Ms. Matthews would you like to say a word?"

Riley stood without thinking, letting go of Lucas's hand and walking towards the podium in the center of the room. She knew that if she didn't say a word then it was a possibility that Evan would go free and he would come back to torment her, as well as her friends and family. That wasn't something she wanted.

Clearing her throat, she looked up at the judge, Evan was smirking at her as if he knew he would get away with everything and it wouldn't matter. She needed to try no matter what, "Your honor, I met Evan Walters nearly four years ago, at the time I believed him to be an honorable man, and entered into a relationship with him, a year later I was involved in an accident where he pulled on the steering wheel of my car causing the car to crash and putting me in a hospital, I lost my memories of our time together, and so he told me several stories about how we were in love," she sucked in her breath trying not to cry.

"I continued the relationship at the time because no one knew about what had occurred or had doubts about it, my memory was gone so I couldn't really testify whether it was true or not. So we stayed together, I became pregnant during this time and for a second time I tried to get away from him. The second time cost me the life of my unborn child, and put me in the hospital for several weeks," Riley could feel the hiccup in her throat but pushed it down. "The relationship ended that time, and I went on with my life, but Mr. Walters didn't stop trying to be in mine, constantly sending me gifts, which were promptly sent back, when it grew to be too much especially with the pressure of his family trying to get us back together for his sake, not mine I left New York."

She could hear Lucas gasp, she hadn't told him that part of the story, she didn't want to burden him anymore but now that they were engaged she didn't want to hold anything back.

"I received a phone call from my mother who is an attorney in New York, I had a restraining order against Mr. Walters, but because of his family's influence they never paid much attention to actually enforcing it. It's one of the reasons why the trip had been suggested, we even made sure that the order pertained to all fifty states. As you can see, instead of reigning in their son, his family sought to expose the secrets of my life, which was my identity as an author as well as my past with their son. His mental state didn't matter until I was in the hospital with a gunshot wound after he tried to kidnap me and threatened to kill me and have me stuffed like a doll."

Riley took a deep breath and looked at the judge one last time, "That's all I have to say, but remember if you let him go with them, and send him back to New York they will just use their influence to let him get away with everything he's done here, and in the end it's going to take my dead body to tell you how out of control he really is."

She sat down next to Lucas trying not to breathe too hard, taking his hand and giving him a squeeze put not taking her eyes off the judge.

"We'll recess for an hour so that I may look over every single piece of evidence," she said before standing and walking out.

Riley didn't want to be there, she wanted to leave because she knew that there was always a possibility that he would get away with it, his family had money and influence. They didn't know the judge, she wasn't sure of anything, she was only sure of one thing and that was Lucas who has given her a new life, and a reason to move forward.

The judge came back into the courtroom after half an hour and she looked angry for some reason, they called her into the room and she sat down and stared out into the room.

"Let me say something as we finish up here," she said and Riley couldn't understand what could have happened to cut the time so short. "Bribery of an elected official is against the law, and fines will be levied against the Walters for attempting to do so. Secondly, bail for Evan Walters will not be set, Mr. Walters has had no regard over Ms. Matthews, he has no regard for her privacy, personal safety, or even obeying a court order. He will not be allowed extradition to New York State and will be tried in Texas as this is where the crime was committed, it has also been presented to me that once his trial is complete here, he will stand trial in New York for several other charges including stalking and breaking a non-disclosure agreement that was signed when he began dating Ms. Matthews, the fines for violating that agreement have been levied against him and currently stand at over fifty million dollars. Mr. and Mrs. Walters it has also come to my attention that there is now a suit against you both as well as your estate in regards to these matters and I suggest that before you try to bribe another judge you make due to fix your mistakes. Court is adjourned," the gavel hitting the wood brought Riley back from her trance as the whole family was taken into custody.

Evan looked at her with a smirk as though he thought he would still get away with it, but her mother would probably get licensed in Texas before the trial just so she could bury the who family for what they had done to Riley. Lucas said his goodbyes to their lawyer and pulled Riley out of the room.

"You okay there?" he asked once they had made it to the parking lot.

"Did that just happen?" she asked him looking into his familiar green eyes.

Instead of answering he brought her into a hug and kissed her forehead holding her for a good minute before speaking. "Yes it did, and for one I am glad because it means that something went right."

"Lucas a lot of things have been going right ever since I met you, and I think for one I'm glad that I fell into your arms that first day here."

Lucas drove them back to the house as their friends and family waited for them, all that was missing was Riley's parents who had to return to New York after Riley had gotten out of the hospital. They had called them just after getting out, and Riley's mother had said that she had sent every piece of evidence to the lawyer they had hired as well as the judge. Riley had been grateful that they had gotten a fair hearing but was still afraid of what was going to happen if they went to trial. They discussed plea deals and other things but when Riley had hung up she looked at him and kissed his arm.

"Thank you for putting up with all of this madness," she said after she had hung up.

"Trust me, you've put up with enough of my crazy life so this is nothing," he said taking her hand. "Remember we do this together, if my ex all of a sudden decided she wanted to come back and raise hell I know you will be there to help me."

"If that happens I hope that it's not for a very very long time."

"Yeah, me to. We've been through so much in the time we've been together, so let's hope that from now on it will be less intense."

Riley laughed and he felt as if it was the greatest sound he could hear at that time, she was free of Evan even with the possibility of him being taken back to New York, the world knew his involvement with Riley who is a high profile author.

"Did you ever think about writing about this," he said to her knowing that maybe she could help more people out there. "Think about it, maybe spin it into fiction but it could be a good thing. You could help so many people."

"I've been thinking about, but I've always been a little afraid of going too deep into my memories, but you're right it could help so many people but instead of fiction, maybe I should just write about my life. No smoke screens."

"Are you sure?"

"I think it's time to let go of the past and move towards something better," she smiled at him before resting her head on his shoulder.

Something better was in their future, maybe closer to the present if he could convince Riley on a trip to Vegas, or at least the courthouse.

As they made the turn onto his driveway he saw the smoke of the backyard barbeque going, which meant that everyone was waiting for them. When they decided on going to the hearing on their own almost everyone protested, but Riley told them that she wanted to do it on her own, it took a lot of talking before they all let her have her way. Lucas understood, he had gone because he wanted Evan to see that Riley had moved forward while he was trapped in the past. Riley needed that closure as well and now that she had it he knew that the next phase of her life would be a happier one.

"Before we go over there," he said as he pulled her close and kissed her on the lips. "We won't get the chance to have alone time today so I figured I might as well get what I can right now."

"Don't worry, if anything we could run away later for some alone time," she said smiling before pulling him into another kiss.

They walked towards the backyard and stood at the edge watching their friends and family playing around in the pool. Maya was manning the grill with Josh, as her parents played with little baby Olivia. Zay and Vanessa were in the pool with Jake and Missy, while Riley's grandparents talked to Lila by the back door. It was Liliana who spotted them and went running towards them at full speed. Lucas couldn't have been happier, but his little girl would make the world shine for the both of them if she could.

Riley picked her up and gave her a kiss before putting Lili on her back and walking towards the group. Lucas stood back and watched soaking in the moment because he couldn't have imagined it better. Riley was a part of them, she had come in like a storm and made him smile, they chipped away at each other's walls and helped creating a world where happiness was the priority.

They spent the afternoon in the company of the people closest to them, and when they were all gone and Liliana was exhausted from running around Lucas sat down and thought about what could make it better. He looked over at Riley who was stroking his daughters' hair and smiled.

"You want to take a trip?" he asked smiling.

"How far do you want to go?" she said snuggling into him. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.

"I don't know maybe Vegas," he said looking into her brown eyes. "If we leave now we could get there by tomorrow afternoon."

"You want to get married without anyone knowing?" she said pulling away from him.

"Is that alright? We could still have the wedding in the Fall but I think I just want this for the three of us."

She smiled at him and slowly stood up, making sure not to wake the sleeping little girl that was on her lap. They packed enough for three days, putting Liliana and Daisy in the backseat together before taking off into the night. It had sounded crazy in his mind when he suggested it but for some reason it felt like the right thing to do. On the road they found a hotel that would allow them to take Daisy, and booked everything from the chapel to getting the rings and dresses, so that when they reached their destination they would be prepared.

Riley couldn't believe how fast they had gone from relaxing to being on the road on the way to Vegas, she napped while Lucas drove switching off when they were halfway towards their destination. Because it had been night when they left there were barely any cars on the road so they were able to cut out a few hours from the drive. They could have just taken a plane there but this felt so much more like a family trip than anything else. She always wanted to go on a road trip like this but her book tours had been mostly planes, and hotels. Now she was on the open road with the man she loved, and a little girl who would become her daughter.

Liliana had woken up when the sun was high enough to shine down on her face and make her squint.

"Where are we going?" she had asked the moment her eyes were open enough to realize that she wasn't in bed.

"Riley and I decided on a family trip before you went back to school in two weeks," Lucas said as Riley smiled.

They had sent out a message to Maya telling her about the spur of the moment family vacation and Maya had only replied with have fun. Liliana had talked the rest of the way, so when they finally reached the hotel the three of them had been exhausted from the ride and fell asleep in the hotel room.

When they woke up Riley's phone was alerting them to their appointment, she snuck away to get ready leaving a note with Lucas to meet them there. As she took Liliana to the hair salon to get pampered they laughed as they got their nails done, but Liliana looked at her like something magical was happening when Riley started getting her make-up done.

"Are we going to a fancy restaurant?" Liliana asked once they were done and in the dressing room.

"Nope," Riley answered with a smile. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Your daddy and I decided to get married today, just us four here no one else. You, me, Lucas and Daisy."

"So you're going to be my mom now?"

"Yes," Riley said knowing that they still had a bunch of paperwork to deal with to officially make Liliana her daughter but at that moment the papers didn't matter because they were going to be a family in their own sense of the word.

"Yay," she squealed jumping up and down.

"Come on let's get dressed and go to the chapel, we have an appointment to keep," Riley said pulling her daughter to the dressing room.

Riley's dress was a simple white dress, it was just under her knees and off the shoulder with a lace bodice but it was perfect to her. She had ordered it on the ride over from the hotel bridal store when Lucas wasn't looking. She wanted to surprise him, because he had thought she was going to wear what she had packed. She had made sure that Liliana's dress was a soft blue color, she was going to be a part of Riley's something blue along with a soft blue ribbon she had borrowed from the little girl's dress. Her something old was the engagement ring that Lila had given them when Lucas proposed, and her something new was her dress and shoes. When they were ready they handed over the bag of their clothes to someone from room service to take to their room and walked towards the chapel hand in hand. When they got there Riley heard Daisy bark as the attendant handed the two of them bouquets of Riley's favorite flowers.

A soft song played as Liliana made her way down the aisle, when the she reached the end the wedding march began and Riley stepped out to see Lucas wearing a button up suit he had brought with the collar open. He looked perfect to her and she couldn't help but smile at him as she walked down the aisle.

When he looked up as his daughter walked towards him he couldn't help but smile because she was wearing a dress he had never seen before. _Riley_. Was all he thought, she really was the perfect woman. Daisy was sitting next to him, as his best man with a little flower on her collar and his hand on her leash.

The wedding march started and he felt himself straighten as Riley began her walk towards him, in her eyes he saw nothing but a beautiful woman who had changed his life. She was gorgeous in her dress, almost like the sun coming towards him. For a moment he felt himself tear up, this was the woman of his dreams, the one he had spent so long waiting for. The wait had been worth it, because he knew that they had both lived their lives to get to where they are.

"Dearly beloved," were the first words he heard from anyone else but he could only focus on the woman in front of him.

 _I love you_ , he mouthed to her making her smile.

 _I love you too_ , she said back.

When the vows were spoken and the rings exchanged, Liliana jumping up and down was what made them realize that this was a family that would stick together forever.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**A/N: Future Fics and Season 5. Please take note of the last part of this note mainly because I do have other work to do and I cry if I get below a B+, I'm pretty much harder on myself then my professors are and I freak out over grades.**  
 _ **1\. I've plotted out most of the Season 5 fic and it is filled with so much heartbreak and angst**_ _ **(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻  
2\. The Agent and the Hitman took a weird turn when I started plotting it so it no longer looks like the one shot, but Farkle is a mob boss, Zay is a bouncer, Maya is a Singer at Farkle's club, Josh is a bartender, Smackle is Riley's handler, and of course Riley's the Agent and Lucas is the hitman, so I'm cool with that.  
3\. I have another adult AU where they're all teachers because you can't leave me alone with anything ever. This one is way into the future and not a priority right now  
4\. I have one shot ideas I want to write, which includes all kinds of things, I will probably write them during September/October to keep posting stories if I can't concentrate on a single long fic.  
5\. last but not least I have to finish writing the Superhero AU which will probably turn into the longest fic I will ever write considering I don't know where its going just yet.**_

 _ **There's also the fact that I may disappear in September to concentrate on my Master's Thesis and my novel, I'll keep writing the Superhero AU during that time but I need to work on my stuff or else I'm going to drown in it come crunch time and I don't want that. Let me see how it goes first and I'll keep you updated.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen**

Their lives after Vegas went into a happy place, they weren't perfect, no one was, but they were happy after everything that had happened. Of course they had hidden the marriage from their friends and family and went on planning the Fall wedding. Until her mother had called about Liliana's adoption papers and noticed that Riley had signed it Friar instead of Matthews.

"Oops," was all she could say even though she had wanted the world to know.

The wedding wasn't scheduled until mid-October, but now everyone knew that they had gotten married weeks before, on a random trip to Vegas. So of course everyone they knew began bombarding them with phone calls, which they ignored after the slip-up.

"Can we just run away," she said to Lucas pleading with him but he shook his head.

"I didn't mean for them to find out like this but we couldn't lie on the adoption papers," he said to her. The paperwork for Riley officially becoming Liliana's mother had to be check out by their lawyers, of course Riley forgot that her mother was considered her lawyer and the papers had reached New York before she could get them back.

She sighed as she sat on the couch waiting for the storm to come, "Honestly I don't understand what the big deal is, we got married that was our decision, no one else's but ours."

"I think they're only mad because we did it without them knowing," he said pulling her into a hug. Liliana was in school blissfully unaware of what was happening and Riley envied her so much at that moment.

The front door opened and in came her best friend followed by her uncle, and behind him to Riley's surprise her father.

"Riley Matthews," he yelled out.

"Well actually according to the papers I'm Riley Matthews-Friar now," she said with a smile, but her father didn't take the joke instead he marched into the room and grabbed her hand.

"You're in big trouble young lady, and when we get back home," he stopped when Lucas stood in front of Riley and smiled.

"Mr. Matthews, my wife isn't going anywhere by force, she willfully made a decision and married me, but I'm not in control of what she does, but she will not do anything under the threat of someone else," he said making Riley smile.

"Dad I love you, but I'm also 100% sure that mom lectured you before you got on an airplane and flew down here just to yell at me," Riley said as she pulled out her phone and dialed her mother's number.

"Cory Matthews so help me," her mother said without do much as a hello. "If you don't get your ass back to New York within the next twenty-four hours I'm calling a divorce lawyer."

"Yikes," her father said before running out the door. Riley knew her parents wouldn't separate but it was funny to see her father's face when he ran scared of what her mother would do.

Maya stood there watching as Josh sighed and walked out to the car. "We'll talk about this later," he said as he stepped outside.

"Oh no we'll talk about this now," Maya said standing in front of Lucas in all her five-foot glory as if the man didn't tower over her. "Listen you, I get that this was a joint idea and all but you robbed me of the chance to go to my best friend's wedding."

"Maya the wedding hasn't happened yet," Riley said trying to deflect Maya's rant.

"Not a word from you," Maya said looking back to Lucas. "Anyway, I get that you're in love but next time something like this happens I will cut your legs off before you make it to the door."

"Why do I put up with this," Riley said as she flopped back down onto the couch. "Maya I love you but it was our decision, we wanted something for ourselves and yes you weren't there, but it was more for me and Lucas, and Liliana. Something we could have as a family, we weren't taking anything away from you."

Maya stood there for a minute before huffing a "Fine," at them. "I'm godmother to your first born."

"Deal," Riley said before getting up and pushing her best friend to the door, and her waiting husband. "Bye Daddy," she said waving at them before they pulled out of the driveway.

They did have that big ceremony, with all of their friends and family, but as beautiful as it had been, Riley still loved their Vegas wedding more.

* * *

 _ **-5 Years Later-**_

* * *

Lucas was tired, the kids hadn't let him sleep the night before, all excited about Riley being pregnant, with their third child. Liliana was now twelve going on thirty and getting into that weird tween phase, Rowan was almost four years old and he swore she was eighty, and their baby brother was resting in Riley's stomach. The girls were excited about the baby to the point where they had been up painting things for the baby room until nearly midnight, and when they finally went to sleep, Rowan had a nightmare and he had stayed with her until she felt better.

His lovely wife could barely sleep because she had been uncomfortable at seven months she waddled everywhere and hated it, but when she thought he wasn't looking she would talk to their son Liam, they were naming him after his father. It had been Riley's decision to do so and it had made his heart swell. She would read to the baby, or even tell him stories that she had made up about big sisters protecting their little baby brother. The stories weren't always the same, mainly because she changed them so often and kept a recorded copy of all of them. She had done the same for Rowan and even wrote a few for Liliana when they had first gotten married.

"Hello my beautiful wife," he said walking into the room exhausted from working all day.

"Hello my tired husband, dinners in the oven for you," she said with a smile. They took turns doing everything from cooking to cleaning but the farther along she was the harder it got to do anything. Luckily his mother stopped by often to help them out.

"You know I was thinking of making your office bigger," he said after he had gotten his dinner from the kitchen. "At the rate you're going you're going to publish a million children's books and we won't have space for any of them."

"I don't need a bigger office."

"I'm doing it anyway, plus I think if we put a couch in there that can double as a bed we could finally sleep for once, because honestly we've been working too hard lately."

"Well I talked to your mother and she said she's taking Liliana and Rowan to the ballet this weekend so we can sleep then, unless this little one decides to kick me all night like he did yesterday, because heaven forbid that all three of our rugrats would sleep at the same time."

Lucas laughed and placed a hand over his wife's swollen belly, "Listen Liam let your mother sleep because if she's cranky then I'm cranky and we won't be able to finish your room in time."

The little one's hand came up to meet his and he couldn't help but smile at the gesture from the little one growing inside. He looked up at Riley and she placed her hand over his and smiled back, their family was growing and they couldn't be happier.

* * *

It was four in the morning when Liam started to dance on Riley's bladder, she couldn't help but love the little tyke but she also missed sleeping a full eight hours at a time. Lucas had been dead to the world because he hadn't slept much the night before, and she didn't have the heart to wake him so he could suffer with her. She went to the bathroom and then made her way down to the kitchen to drink something. She thought about how much her life had changed since that day in the courtroom five years before, how much she would have lost if she hadn't taken the chance and gone to Texas.

"Liam, your momma has been through so much in her life but I think right now everything is where it's supposed to be," she said rubbing her belly.

Evan had been sent to prison in New York, his parents had to pay Riley millions because of breach of contract as well as damages. She took the money and set it aside for college funds for the kids, a home for victims of abuse and several other things including a house for her parents to use when they came to visit.

Now after everything was over and her life had become more stable she couldn't help but thank them for putting her through it all because in the end Lucas was what had been waiting for her at the end of that road. Liam kicked her again making her come back to the present and look at her life as it was. Yes, she was huge right now but she didn't care, she had her family, the only thing she hated about being pregnant is how the summer heat and her body temperature made her sweat like a dog. Which reminded her of Daisy who was spending the weekend with Maya and Josh as a test to see if they could have a dog with their three kids, Olivia had gotten twin brothers two years ago and although Maya curses the day they had come to the world Riley knew she was joking. Missy and Jake moved out of her grandmother's house and took Maya and Josh's house with their little boy Derek, and their little girl Mina. Maya and Josh lived in Rosie's house now, they decided that it was a good house to build up a lasting legacy.

"How about a swim," she said to Liam who kicked her to say yes, or at least that's what she thought he was saying.

She grabbed her two-piece suit from the back room and changed, with a tunic over it and made her way to the pool, savoring the cold water as it cooled her heated skin. She didn't swim around but sat at the shallow end and watched the sun rise, while running her hand over her belly.

"There's my wife," Lucas said from behind her. He had changed into his swimming trunks and sat down next to her, kissing her on the cheek as he pulled her close. "Is someone keeping you awake?"

"Yes, and he's relentless this one, I don't think Rowan gave me this many problems but then again she had been storing them to annoy you with."

"I don't doubt that at all," he said smiling. "Do you remember the day we were out here after we made love the night before."

"For some reason early morning swims are one of my favorite things in the world," she said smiling at him.

"I'm pretty sure that's how this one was conceived as well," he laughed as he said it which made her feel all warm inside. "This pool is dangerous, maybe we should stay away."

Riley laughed at that, "You know I'm pretty sure that's how Rowan was conceived… Oh god the kids should never be allowed to swim in this pool we've tainted it."

"Well what they don't know won't hurt them."

"We should probably drain it after every time we have sex in here, just to be safe."

"I'm pretty sure it's okay, but I will drain it now if it makes you feel better."

"No I'm finally comfortable and I think it's lulling Liam to sleep because he stopped moving."

They sat there until their fingers turned into prunes and Riley's stomach made a noise, Lucas laughed and got up to help her stand before going inside to make her breakfast.

"What does my wife want?"

"Um… chocolate chip pancakes, with a banana on top, and chocolate syrup instead of maple… or maybe both."

"Your cravings are so normal it makes me wonder why I had to sit in a room and watch Missy eat a jar of pickles while she dipped them in mayonnaise and strawberry ice cream."

"That sounds gross, and if you try to feed that to me I will kill you," she said trying not to laugh.

That was their life most days, it wasn't perfect but it was theirs and they loved it. They worked hard to get there, and even though they fought, usually over something petty, like the color of the baby's room, it was something she was happy about, it was their own version of Happily Ever After.


End file.
